23-year-old Ukrainian from Kherson Oblast sentenced to five and a half years over ‘fake news’ about the Russian army

On 27 August, Nikolai Tereshkov, a judge of the Russian occupation Chaplynka Interdistrict Court in Kherson Oblast, found Tetiana Shevchenko, a resident of the settlement of Chaplynka, guilty under Article 207.3, Part 2(e) of the Russian Criminal Code — spreading ‘fake news’ about the Russian army motivated by hatred — and sentenced her to five and a half years in a general-regime penal colony. She was taken into custody immediately after the verdict was announced.

According to the prosecution, in August and September 2023 Tetiana Shevchenko posted comments in the Telegram chat ‘Nova Kakhovka Chat’. The prosecution alleged that the posts contained knowingly false information about the Russian Armed Forces‘ involvement in the destruction of the Kakhovka dam on 6 June 2023.

According to our information, Tetiana’s five-month-old daughter is now being cared for by her husband.