Serhii Arefiev

Serhii Arefiev

Date of abduction: March 3, 2022

Place of abduction: Kherson

Serhii Arefiev is an employee of a mobile phone company from Kherson. On March 3, 2022, Russians abducted him and his friend after a pro-Ukrainian rally and took them to the local police station on Lutheranska Street. They were interrogated there. After being beaten, his friend was released, and Serhii was taken to Kherson Detention Center No. 1 on Teploenergetikiv Street. Five days later, the Russians transferred him to SIZO No. 1 in Simferopol, where prisoners are tortured and poorly fed. In March 2023, an “investigation” was launched against Arefiev, accusing him of espionage, he was transferred to Simferopol SIZO #2 and “sentenced” to 11.5 years in a maximum security colony. On appeal, the sentence was reduced by six months. In May 2024, Serhii was illegally detained in Detention Center No. 1 in Krasnodar, and in June he was transferred to Detention Center No. 2 in the same city. Since July, Arefiev has been held in Penal Colony No. 10 in Saratov.

This publication was compiled with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation. It’s content is the exclusive responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the International Renaissance Foundation.