Former director of a Luhansk arts school sentenced to thirteen years for treason

Marina Kovalenko, 58, from Luhansk, has been sentenced to thirteen years in a penal colony in Crimea on a charge of treason under Article 275 of the Russian Criminal Code. The sentence was announced by the occupation prosecutor’s office in Crimea.

According to the court, she photographed several documents containing personal data and official information while at work, and sent the images to a representative of Ukrainian intelligence.

Marina Kovalenko disappeared in Alushta, where she had travelled to visit relatives, on 10 June 2025. She was held in isolation for more than eight months at Simferopol Remand Prison No. 2 without being charged. In February, she was taken out of isolation and transferred to Simferopol Remand Prison No. 1.

In June, the FSB released a video in which Marina Kovalenko appeared to confess to cooperating with Ukrainian intelligence. It also released details of the case, claiming that Ukraine’s Security Service had recruited her while she was crossing the Polish-Ukrainian border. An FSB officer claimed she was vulnerable to pressure from the Ukrainian security services because her son serves in the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and that this was why she agreed to cooperate.

In the video, Marina Kovalenko said she had signed a written agreement to cooperate on a confidential basis, having first tried to establish what would be expected of her. She recounted her conversation with the person who recruited her:

— What do you want me to do?

— Nothing in particular. What do you do?

— What does anyone do at a music school? Teach children to play instruments, sing, draw and dance.

— Well, you’ll photograph and forward certain official orders issued by the Russian authorities.

The FSB claimed: ‘Acting on her handler’s instructions, the accused collected and passed to the enemy information about the activities of scientific, educational and other institutions in the Luhansk People’s Republic and the Republic of Crimea, to which she had access through her work.’

The latest statement from the prosecutor’s office states that the documents were photographed at the school in Luhansk and that Marina Kovalenko had travelled to Alushta on holiday.