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Lilia Rudenko

who

Cooks

birthday

1984-03-18

current location

Не в России

region

Rostov-on-Don

View in the Persecution Database

Biography

From 2020 until March 2022, she served in the Ukrainian special-purpose regiment "Azov" as a cook with the military rank of senior soldier. She was captured on 17 March 2022 during fighting in Mariupol. She was accused of organising the activities of a terrorist organisation and forcible seizure and retention of power. Human rights activists note that she is a prisoner of war, so she should not have been actually held criminally liable for participating in hostilities, and in addition, they consider the charges absurd.

On 13 September 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Rudenko had been returned to Ukraine

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From 2020 until March 2022, she served in the Ukrainian special-purpose regiment "Azov" as a cook with the military rank of senior soldier. She was captured on 17 March 2022 during fighting in Mariupol. She was accused of organising the activities of a terrorist organisation and forcible seizure and retention of power. Human rights activists note that she is a prisoner of war, so she should not have been actually held criminally liable for participating in hostilities, and in addition, they consider the charges absurd.

On 13 September 2024, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Rudenko had been returned to Ukraine as part of an exchange. On 26 March 2025, she was sentenced in absentia to 13 years in prison.

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