Journalist, veteran of the anti-terrorist operation Serhiy Tsyhipa, who was kidnapped by the Russians in Novaya Kakhovka, faces 19 years in prison

On October 4, during a hearing in the occupation Supreme Court of Crimea, the prosecutor requested 19 years of imprisonment for the illegally imprisoned citizen of Ukraine, journalist Serhiy Tsyhipa. This was reported by the wife of Serhiy Tsygipa Olena.

The occupying “authorities” of Crimea charged Tsygip with espionage under Article 276 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation.

Serhiy is currently in the occupation SIZO-2 in Simferopol. There have already been 4 closed sessions, after which the “court” must announce the verdict.

Serhiy Tsygipa is a journalist, activist and ATO veteran. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, he has been involved in volunteer activities, participated in rallies in support of Ukraine and reported on the actions of the occupiers in the south. The Russians kidnapped the journalist on March 12, 2022.

“I learned about him only in April. All this time I was trying to learn something. She called everyone, wrote to everyone, friends, acquaintances, the mayor of our city of Novaya Kakhovka. And then, you know, I thought so to myself, I had a premonition, some kind of intuition, that Serhiy was taken to the Crimea,” said Olena.

Natalia Okhotnikova, Human Rights Advisor of the Zmina Center for Human Rights, has been dealing with the case of Serhiy Tsyhipa almost from the beginning of his abduction. Together with her relatives, she managed to recreate those events.

“His phone was later used to send messages to other participants. To other activists and journalists. That is, other people were invited from his phone. Allegedly, he was trying to make an appointment. However, it was a trap,” the human rights activist explained.

It is known that another Kakhovka journalist Oleg Baturin fell into such a “trap”.

Baturin said that he had known Tsyhipa for a long time. When I received a message from him to meet at the bus station, I agreed, although I sensed something bad.

“Arriving at the bus station at 5 o’clock, I saw a white minivan with Ukrainian license plates, civilian without any markings, but the figures of the people sitting in the front seats did not remind me of Serhiy Tsihip at all, and I turned around, went home, but managed to hear , that someone runs out of this minivan and starts running in my direction. And I realized that that’s it, I got there,” said Baturin.

The Russians brought Baturin to the building of the Kherson Regional State Administration. There, the day after his arrest, he heard the voice of Serhiy Tsyhipa, among others. He gave his name during the interrogation. The Russians held Tsygipa captive for a year and a half. He was kidnapped for his active pro-Ukrainian position and journalistic activity.

In April 2022, videos of the abducted Tsygipa appeared on YouTube and Telegram. In these recordings, the journalist, known for his active pro-Ukrainian position, talks about the “dubious strategy of the Ukrainian army.” In the description of the video, he is presented as a “senior officer of the command of the Special Operations Forces of the Ukrainian Army, who moved to Russia.” Thanks to these videos, the natives of Tsygipa found out that he was alive.

Serhiy Tsygipa’s acquaintances, including journalist Oleg Baturin, pointed out that such a position and behavior is not characteristic of Serhiy Tsygipa.

In June 2023, Olena, the wife of Serhii Tsygipa, spoke about how she is trying to free her husband from captivity, and called on everyone who cares to join the peaceful action “Free the Civilian Prisoners of Ukraine”, which was organized by the public association “Civilians in Captivity”.