Sergei Tsigipa
Sergei Tsigipa, born 1961, Occupied territory of Republic of Crimea. Charges: Article 276, Russian Criminal Code (Transferring, collecting, stealing, or storing information classified as state secret with the…); “Sergei Tsigipa's case of espionage”. Sentence (October 6, 2023): 13 years' imprisonment in a strict regime penal colony. Status: imprisoned; deprived of liberty since December 27, 2022; place of detention: Penal colony No. 3, Ryazan Oblast. Recognition: Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners — recognised as a political prisoner, October 27, 2023.
In brief
Occupied territory of Republic of Crimea · Simferopol · Former military personnel, Journalists
Sentence
13 years
imprisonment in a strict regime penal colony
Upheld February 13, 2024
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, he passed on to an SBU officer "information about the location of a radio relay station that provides headquarters communications for the Russian Armed Forces."
Latest event
February 13, 2024 — appeal
The court upheld the verdict.
Recognition by rights defenders
- Recognised as a political prisoner — Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners, October 27, 2023
Timeline
· Appeal ruling
upheld
· Recognised as a political prisoner
Memorial: Support for Political Prisoners
· First-instance verdict
guilty verdict · 13 years
· Preventive measure: pre-trial detention
Pre-trial Detention Centre №2 (SIZO-2) of the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation for the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol
· Persecution begins
Sergei Tsigipa's case of espionage
Criminal case
Sergei Tsigipa's case of espionage
Write a letter
Facility: Penal colony No. 3, Ryazan Oblast
Address (in Russian, as written on the envelope)
391846, Рязанская обл., Скопин г., Октябрьский микрорайон, ул. Заводская, д. 1, ФКУ «ИК № 3 УФСИН России по Рязанской области», Цыгипа Сергей Витальевич, 1961 г.р.
Details and sources
Full summary
An elderly man, a retired major, formerly served in the KGB of the USSR, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) and the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He was also a three-term member of the Nova Kakhovka city council, as well as a writer and journalist.
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion, he took part in volunteer work, organised pro-Ukraine rallies and reported on events in the south of the country.
Sergei Tsygipa disappeared on March 12, 2022. That same day, Russian forces seized Aleksandr Tarasov, an organizer of rallies in Kherson. After being released from captivity, Tarasov said that during the first few days they were held together in the basement of the Kherson regional administration building, before being taken to a pre-trial detention center in Crimea. There, Tsigipa — like other illegally detained Ukrainians — was subjected to ill-treatment and torture. His family received official information about his whereabouts only in autumn 2022.
From October 2022 until August 2023, lawyer Refat Iunus was unable to obtain access to his client. In response to all lawyer’s requests, investigators repeatedly forwarded handwritten notes supposedly from Sergei Tsigipa refusing legal assistance. The lawyer was allowed into the case only once the trial had begun, when at the very first hearing Sergei Tsigipa publicly stated that he wanted Iunus to represent him.
On 27 December, the Kyiv District Court of Simferopol placed Tsigipa in custody for two months on espionage charges, that period that was subsequently extended. On 13 July 2023, his case was sent to court, and on October 6, 2023 he was sentenced to 13 years in a strict-regime penal colony.
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.