Olga Cherniavskaia
Olga Cherniavskaia, born 1980, Occupied territory of Zaporizka oblast. Charges: Article 276, Russian Criminal Code (Transferring, collecting, stealing, or storing information classified as state secret with the…); “Olga Cherniavskaia's case of espionage”. Sentence (December 11, 2024): 13 years' imprisonment in general regime penal colony. Status: imprisoned; place of detention: Penal colony No. 28, Volgograd Oblast. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, April 14, 2026.
In brief
Sentence
13 years
imprisonment in general regime penal colony
Upheld May 6, 2025
Charges
- Article 276, Russian Criminal Code — Transferring, collecting, stealing, or storing information classified as state secret with the intent to transfer to a foreign state, organization, or their representatives.
Latest event
April 14, 2026 — recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, April 14, 2026
Timeline
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 13 years
· Persecution begins
Olga Cherniavskaia's case of espionage
Criminal case
Olga Cherniavskaia's case of espionage
Write a letter
Facility: Penal colony No. 28, Volgograd Oblast
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
404621, Волгоградская область, г. Ленинск, ул. Промышленная, 12, ФКУ "ИК № 28 УФСИН России по Волгоградской области", Чернявская Ольга Викторовна, 1980 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
A resident of Zaporizhzhya region of Ukraine. Worked as a store manager until February 2022. Mother of a serviceman of the AFU (Armed Forces of Ukraine). On May 25, 2023, she was taken into custody in an espionage case. Human rights activists report that when Cherniavskaia was transferred to a cell after interrogations, she had signs of torture all over her body - hematomas and burns, bleeding that did not stop for several months. They believe that she confessed under torture. For more than a year her relatives knew nothing about her whereabouts. A criminal case on espionage was opened only in August 2024. On December 12, 2024, Chernyavskaya was sentenced to 13 years.
All fields of the record
- Citizenship
- Ukraine
Other people prosecuted under Article 276, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.