December 17, 2025

Convicted for Automatic Payments


Convicted for Automatic Payments
A prison cell. The Russian Life files.

On December 12, Russian courts sentenced two women in Ukraine's partially occupied Zaporizhzhia region to 12.5 and 15 years in prison, respectively, for transferring money to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The women were convicted of treason.

In March 2023, the now-65-year-old Irina Sukhovey, of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia, was scrolling through pro-Ukrainian Telegram channels when she saw ads for donations to the Ukrainian army. She set up automatic payments from her bank's app to donate to the armed forces of her country. That same month, Russia occupied her city.

In November 2023, Sukhovey was forced to become a Russian citizen. She began receiving a pension from the Russian government into her Ukrainian bank account. According to prosecutors, the woman was aware that her bank account continued to transfer money to the Ukrainian Armed Forces automatically. A Russian court said the payments continued until November 2024. During the trial, prosecutors pointed out that Sukhovey did not support the occupation of her region by Russian forces. On December 12, the woman was sentenced to 15 years in prison, according to Mediazona.

On the same day Sukhovey was sentenced, the press service of the prosecutor's office of the illegally annexed Crimea confirmed another woman from Melitopol was also convicted of treason. A 55-year-old was sentenced to 12 and a half years for transferring R1400 ($17) to the Ukrainian Army.

The two women are not the only Zaporizhzhians in prison for making payments to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. On December 5, 61-year-old Marina Belusova, a Primorsk resident and Russian citizen, was sentenced to 12 years and 6 months in prison for treason. The FSB found transfers from Belusova's Ukrainian bank account to the Ukrainian Army. The retiree expressed regret for the donations.

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