Kostiantyn Zinovkin

Kostiantyn Zinovkin

Date of abduction: May 12, 2023

Place of abduction: Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region

When Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, 29-year-old Kostiantyn Zinovkin stayed in his native Melitopol to take care of his mother and grandmother. Very quickly, the invaders occupied the city and began abducting people and searching their homes. On May 12, 2023, Kostiantyn left home and never returned. However, three unidentified men in civilian clothes broke into his apartment, interrogated his mother and grandmother, and searched the house. They said Konstantin was detained “for violating the regime” and would be released soon. For about a month, the family did not know what happened to him, and then the occupiers accused Kostiantyn of terrorism and an attempt to blow up a person.

“For you to understand, we have not eaten meat for many years because we do not want animals to suffer because of us. To blow up a man is very wild and unlike him,” says his wife, Lucienne.

In July 2023, the Russians took Konstantin to Detention Center #2 in Chongar. There, hostages are kept under round-the-clock video surveillance and tortured. In May, the Russians started “criminal proceedings” against Konstantin Zinovkin. Every few months, he is brought to the “courts,” where the preventive measure is extended, but neither his wife nor his mother knows the details of the hearings. The last hearing took place on January 25. Since then, Zinovkin’s family has no information about him.