Irina Gorobtsova
Irina Gorobtsova, born 1985, Occupied territory of Khersonska oblast. Charges: Article 276, Russian Criminal Code (Transferring, collecting, stealing, or storing information classified as state secret with the…); “Irina Gorobtsova's case”. Sentence (August 15, 2024): 10 years 6 months' imprisonment in a general regime colony. Status: imprisoned; deprived of liberty since May 1, 2022; place of detention: Penal colony No. 2, Mordovia.
In brief
Occupied territory of Khersonska oblast · IT specialists
Sentence
10 years 6 months
imprisonment in a general regime colony
Upheld April 1, 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.
Full wording of the charges
According to the investigation, from February 2022 to March 2023, Gorobtsova provided Ukraine's Main Intelligence Directorate with information about military equipment, deployment locations, and movements of Russian army and National Guard units in the Kherson region, which could have been used to launch strikes on Russian Armed Forces positions.
Latest event
April 1, 2025 — appeal
The court upheld the verdict.
Timeline
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 10 years 6 months
· Persecution begins
Irina Gorobtsova's case
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Pre-trial Detention Centre №1 (SIZO-1) of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russian Federation for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol
Criminal case
Irina Gorobtsova's case
Write a letter
Facility: Penal colony No. 2, Mordovia
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
431160, Республика Мордовия, Зубово-Полянский район, п. Явас, ул. Чернореченская, д. 1, ИК-2, ФКУ «ИК № 2 УФСИН России по Республике Мордовия», Горобцова Ирина Владимировна, 1985 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
A resident of Kherson, a port city in southern Ukraine, Gorobtsova worked as a tester. After the start of the Russian occupation, she volunteered by delivering medicines, food, and essentials by car, and helped medical workers get to the hospital. She participated in protests by Kherson residents against the occupation, wrote Facebook posts supporting Ukrainian soldiers, and published information about fundraising for the needs of civilians and the military.
On May 13, 2022, according to relatives, armed men in military uniforms and masks took Gorobtsova from her home. In June 2022, her father received a response from the Federal Security Service (FSB) stating that "the mentioned person opposed the special military operation," so "a decision regarding her" would be made "after the end of the SVO" (Special Military Operation).
Later it became known that Gorobtsova was taken to Crimea. Lawyer Emil Kurbedinov said in October 2022 that the Ministry of Internal Affairs informed him she had been held since at least late May in pre-trial detention center No. 1 in Simferopol, while detention staff refused to let him meet her, claiming she was not there. As of October 2022, she had not been charged.
Subsequently, Gorobtsova was accused of espionage. According to the investigation, she collected strategically important data about the units of the Russian Armed Forces in the Kherson region and passed them to an officer of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine. On August 15, 2024, Gorobtsova was sentenced to 10 and a half years in a general regime penal colony.
In February 2025, Gorobtsova's father reported that she was diagnosed with a brain aneurysm.
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.