{"id":67537,"date":"2026-10-19T18:58:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T15:58:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/news\/kosti-obtyanuty-shkuroj-pensionerku-iz-pod-melitopolya-s-simptomami-demenczii-osudili-za-perevod-vsu-v-tyurme-ona-ne-mozhet-est-sama\/"},"modified":"2026-10-31T05:05:29","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T02:05:29","slug":"bones-covered-by-skin-russia-jails-ukrainian-pensioner-with-dementia-for-12-5-years-over-a-donation-to-ukraines-army-in-prison-she-cant-feed-herself","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/memopzk.org\/en\/news\/bones-covered-by-skin-russia-jails-ukrainian-pensioner-with-dementia-for-12-5-years-over-a-donation-to-ukraines-army-in-prison-she-cant-feed-herself\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cBones covered by skin\u201d. Russia jails Ukrainian pensioner with dementia for 12.5 years over a donation to Ukraine\u2019s army; in prison, she can\u2019t feed herself"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Photo: screenshot from a video distributed for the press by the court<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2025, Russian soldiers took 68-year-old Halyna Bekhter from her home in the Russian-occupied part of Ukraine\u2019s Zaporizhzhia region. She was soon convicted of treason: according to investigators, she had transferred money to the Ukrainian army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In their letters, Bekhter\u2019s cellmates say she can no longer eat or care for herself, and they suspect she has progressive dementia. Despite this, prosecutors secured a harsher sentence. Bekhter is now being transferred to a penal colony.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mediazona<\/em> looks at what is known about her case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Halyna Bekhter and her husband lived in the village of Reichenfeld (called Plodorodne until 2025) in Ukraine\u2019s Zaporizhzhia region, according<\/a> to Lyudmila Huseynova, founder of the human rigths group Numo, Sestry<\/em> (\u201cC\u2019mon, Sisters!\u201d). The village was occupied at the very start of Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion. In the summer of 2022, Bekhter\u2019s daughter fled to the part of the country under Ukrainian control, but her elderly parents stayed behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"\/
Halyna Bekhter. screenshot from a video distributed for the press by the Zaporizhzhia Regional Court<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Huseynova told Novaya Gazeta<\/em> Europe<\/em> that the Bekhters never hid their pro-Ukrainian stance, which led to conflicts with some of their pro-Russian neighbors. As a result, the Russian military took the couple in for questioning in November 2024, but later released them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July 2025, Halyna Bekhter was detained. Huseynova, who is in touch with the family, says a neighbor who had spoken in support of Putin reported her. Bekhter had told the neighbor: \u201cOur people will be back soon. Let\u2019s see what you have to say then!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Numo, Sestry<\/em>, Bekhter was first held in Melitopol, then in the village of Yakymivka in the Zaporizhzhia region. She spent some time in Donetsk before being moved to Pretrial Detention Center No. 1 (SIZO-1) in Simferopol, Crimea. Her husband died in their home village in January 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2026, the occupational administration\u2019s Zaporizhzhia Regional Court sentenced<\/a> 68-year-old Bekhter to 11 years in prison on charges of \u201ctreason.\u201d According to investigators, in July 2023 she used a Ukrainian banking app to send money to an account linked to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (the amount was the equivalent of 1,240 rubles, or about $15).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prosecutors found that sentence too lenient<\/em> and appealed, asking for 16 years instead. In July, the First Appellate Court of General Jurisdiction increased Bekhter\u2019s sentence to 12 and a half years. By the time of the appeal, it was already known that she had developed symptoms of dementia in custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In May, two months after the sentencing, the human rights organisation ZPCh<\/em> (\u201cFor Human Rights\u201d) published<\/a> excerpts from a letter written by Bekhter\u2019s cellmate in Simferopol:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cShe is not doing well. She flat-out refuses to eat. We drag her to the table by her hands. In the evening I leave the potatoes whole; at lunchtime I mash them all up and heat them. The two of us hold her at the table so she doesn\u2019t run off. Sometimes we give her the first spoonful ourselves so she\u2019ll taste it and eat at least half <…><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She can\u2019t write anything anymore. It looks like Alzheimer\u2019s is setting in <…><\/p>\n\n\n\n

She doesn\u2019t bathe. She comes into the shower fully clothed and comes out fully clothed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a subsequent letter dated July 2026 and quoted<\/a> by Novaya Gazeta Europe<\/em>, the cellmate wrote that Bekhter, who is 176 centimeters (5\u20199\u201d) tall, weighed 50 kilograms (110 lbs). \u201c[She] lies in bed all the time, doesn\u2019t change her clothes, doesn\u2019t understand what to do in the shower, and has no control over her bodily functions. She suffers from fecal incontinence,\u201d the woman wrote, asking for adult diapers to be sent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bekhter is currently being transferred from the detention centre to a penal colony. And, according to Mediazona\u2019s<\/em> sources, the transfer has already taken more than three weeks. Her destination is still unknown.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shortly before the transfer, a cellmate described Bekhter\u2019s condition as follows: \u201cHer bones are covered only by skin, no muscle at all. She soils herself, and the girls wash her and do her laundry. She\u2019s completely lost her mind; they spoon-feed her and mash everything up for her since she doesn\u2019t have a single tooth left. She won\u2019t survive the transfer. What kind of justice can we even hope for?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most recent letter about Halyna Bekhter was received on October 12: it was written from Penal Colony No. 15, a transit prison in the Samara region by her former cellmate Larisa Belyaeva, who was convicted of purchasing Ukrainian military bonds:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe traveled it a \u2018Stolypin\u2019 without any major issues. The bad news is that they separated Halya and me into different cells here; I couldn\u2019t convince the investigators that she needs care. I have no idea who\u2019s going to take care of her now. This is my first \u2018break\u2019 in six months.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Belyaeva wrote to Russia\u2019s human rights commissioner, Yana Lantratova, describing everything happening to Bekhter, but has received no response.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Russian occupation courts regularly convict elderly Ukrainians of financially supporting the Ukrainian army, and hand them double-digit prison terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In July, Vitaliy Ilyin, 63, was sentenced<\/a> to 12 years in prison. In September, Natalya Nadeina, 69, received<\/a> the same sentence. In August, a 74-year-old woman was sentenced<\/a> to 14 years in a penal colony; almost nothing is known about her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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