Mark Kaliush
Mark Kaliush, born 1997, Occupied territory of Zaporizka oblast. Charges: Article 119 part 1, Russian Criminal Code; Article 205 part 2 item a applied with Article 30 part 1, Russian Criminal Code; Article 222.1 part 3 item v, Russian Criminal Code. Status: at large.
In brief
Occupied territory of Zaporizka oblast · Мелитополь · Journalists
Sentence
Compulsory medical treatment
No information about an appeal ruling.
Latest event
No dated events.
Details and sources
Editorial summary
Mark Mykolayovych Kaliush is a Ukrainian media activist and administrator of the Telegram channel “Melitopol is Ukraine.” He was born on March 24, 1997.
Russian security forces detained Kaliush in Melitopol in 2023. After his release, he told Ukrainian journalists that FSB officers had handcuffed him, placed a bag over his head, beaten him and pressured him to sign documents. He said that when he refused, signatures were fabricated. These are Kaliush’s own allegations describing his treatment in detention.
Unlike several other detained Ukrainian media workers, Kaliush was formally prosecuted. Memorial lists charges under Part 1 of Article 119, Part 1 of Article 30 combined with paragraph “a” of Part 2 of Article 205, and paragraph “v” of Part 3 of Article 222.1 of the Russian Criminal Code.
For more than a year, Kaliush was held under compulsory psychiatric treatment rather than in ordinary detention. He later described repeated beatings and other abuse while confined.
On July 7, 2025, a Russian court ordered compulsory medical measures rather than a conventional prison sentence.
Kaliush was released on August 24, 2025, as part of the same Ukraine-Russia exchange that freed UNIAN journalist Dmytro Khyliuk. He returned to Ukraine and is no longer imprisoned.
Other people prosecuted under Article 119 part 1, Russian Criminal Code
Under the same article, not necessarily in the same case.