"He dreams of writing a book. I dream of holding him again." The Story of Serhii Tsyhypa, a Journalist and Volunteer from Kherson, Sentenced to 13 Years in prison by a Russian court
On March 12, 2022, in the temporarily occupied town of Nova Kakhovka in Kherson Oblast, Russian security forces abducted Serhii Tsyhypa — a Ukrainian writer, journalist, volunteer, and former serviceman.
More than three years have passed since that day, yet this story remains shrouded in shadows of torture, intimidation, and systemic lawlessness.
Journalists Viktoriia Novikova and Ivan Antypenko spoke with Serhii Tsyhypa’s wife to uncover the circumstances behind yet another Russian war crime.
After a pro-Ukrainian rally held in Nova Kakhovka during the early days of occupation, friends warned Serhii that Russian security services had begun surveilling local activists.
For several days, he went into hiding, staying overnight at friends' homes. But on the morning of March 12, he told his wife Olena he would walk the dog and visit a friend in Tavriisk.
«I begged him not to head that way, — Olena recalls. — I had seen a suspicious car there that seemed to be watching the area. But he didn’t listen. Only later did I realize they were probably already tracking him. He never came back. And that’s when time seemed to stop — every day since has lasted an eternity».
Olena and Serhii Tsyhypa at a rally in Nova Kakhovka, March 2022. Photo from the family’s archive.
A Man of His Word
Before the full-scale invasion, Serhii Tsyhypa was well-known in Nova Kakhovka: a writer, freelance journalist, Armed Forces of Ukraine veteran, and reserve major. His wife Olena worked as a deputy school principal and art teacher.
«Serhii always held a strong pro-Ukrainian position,” Olena says. “Since 2014, he openly mocked the regimes of Yanukovych, Putin, and Lukashenko. He considered Russians to be enemies — and he never hid it. After the occupation of the city, he said clearly: “This is a hybrid war. Information is also a weapon. I will fight with words».
From the first days of Russian occupation, Serhii volunteered actively: delivering medicines and food, supplying yeast for local bakeries, and helping homebound residents. Together with his wife, he made badges featuring Ukrainian symbols so people would know they were Ukrainian volunteers.
Later, he began documenting the actions of the occupying army and the puppet administration. He launched a Telegram channel and collected photos and videos from eyewitnesses.
The Day of the Abduction
Olena Tsyhipa says she began to worry the same morning Serhii left home. Still, she didn’t want to frighten the family. She thought perhaps the occupiers had detained, intimidated him and then released, as it had happened with other activists before.
But the next day, the wife of journalist Oleh Baturin wrote that he had also disappeared after meeting with Serhii. That’s when Olena realized this wasn’t just a short-term detention.
As Baturin later said, Russian occupation forces had lured him into a trap using a fake message allegedly from Tsyhipa, and then detained him as well. He was interrogated in Nova Kakhovka and Kherson, subjected to physical abuse, and eventually released. Serhii wasn’t so lucky.
A photo of Serhii with his dog, shortly before his abduction. March 2022.
Olena began searching for witnesses who might have seen Serhii along his route. She discovered that people at checkpoints saw him stopped, searched, and his documents inspected. Olena retraced his steps, visiting police stations and even appealing to the city hall, which collaborators had already taken over.
«Leontiev wrote down my phone number and address, she recalls. “He said, ‘Don’t worry, your husband will be home soon". But I knew something was wrong».
«Special Operations Officer»
The first sign of Serhii’s whereabouts came on May 17, 2022 — the day of Olena’s mother’s funeral. She had died two months after her son-in-law’s abduction. A recently released prisoner from Kherson said he had heard the name «Tsyhipa» called out during a roll call at Detention Center N1 in Simferopol.
Not long after, acquaintances showed Olena a video that had been broadcast on Russian propaganda channels. In it, Serhii was forced to claim that Ukraine had staged provocations against its civilians in Donetsk, including the alleged shelling of Kramatorsk. He was also made to repeat the Kremlin's false narrative that the atrocities committed by Russian forces in Bucha and other towns near Kyiv had been faked.
«I could tell they did something to him — they forced him to say it”, Olena says. "The moment I saw him, I felt a jolt. He was so thin, sunken, with a buzz cut — he never looked like that before».
In the video’s captions, he was labeled a «special operations officer.This may have been Russia’s justification for targeting him, as Serhii had served in Ukraine’s Armed Forces between 2015 and 2017.
Later, a man named Oleksandr — who had been held with Serhii in the same facility and later released — told Olena that all detainees were tortured with electricity. They threatened Serhii: either he participated in the video or his entire family would be detained and tortured.
Unknown individuals, likely from Russia’s security services, contacted Olena several times in attempts to get Serhii’s documents — his military ID and passport.
«I told them I wouldn’t hand over anything until I saw Serhii via video call,” Olena recalls. “So they never got them».
Unlawful Criminal Prosecution
In October 2022, with the help of human rights defenders, Olena managed to find a lawyer. Although they knew exactly which detention facility Serhii was being held in, the lawyer had to file dozens of inquiries across occupied Crimea — in Alushta, Sevastopol, and Yevpatoria.
Eventually, Olena and the attorney received a single official response confirming Serhii’s detention.
«It was a very slippery reply”, Olena recalls. “They said they were ‘assessing whether his actions had harmed the "Special Military Operation».
Olena says Serhii was denied the right to a private attorney. He was repeatedly forced to sign documents waiving his right to counsel, which meant his lawyer was never present during interrogations.
After the charges were filed, however, Serhii and Olena were allowed to exchange letters through Russia’s ZONATELEKOM system.
Some of Serhii’s letters reached Olena uncensored. They reflected his resilience in the face of captivity and torture.
«The Sentence»: 13 Years
On October 6, 2023, Serhii was sentenced to 13 years in prison by a Russian court — an unlawful conviction. The judgment claimed that he had «gathered and transmitted information at the request of a foreign intelligence service to be used against the security of the Russian Federation».
Olena and the defense attorney filed an appeal. When the appeals court upheld the conviction, they submitted a cassation request.
«I didn’t expect them to reduce the sentence,” Olena says. “The minimum for ‘espionage’ is ten years. But we had to act — to make sure the Russian authorities knew he was not forgotten. His family is fighting for him, and we’ll never stop».
Today, Serhii is being held in Penal Colony No. 3 in Skopin, Ryazan Oblast — a high-security facility known for housing political prisoners:
«Serhii refuses to work. He refuses to take Russian citizenship,” Olena says. “He tells them, ‘I’m a pensioner and a citizen of another country. This is forced labor».
Hope
Olena Tsyhipa is one of the activists behind the NGO «Civilians in Captivity» which brings together over 400 families of Ukrainian civilians unlawfully imprisoned by Kremlin. She speaks at international forums, meets with politicians, and shares the truth about Russia’s war crimes.
«People ask me: ‘Where do you get the strength?’ And I say, ‘It’s how I survive,’” Olena explains. “If I stop, I’ll lose my mind. It’s exhausting. But it also gives me purpose».
She dreams that when Serhii finally returns, he’ll recover quickly — and they’ll write a book together.
«I know his spirit. He’s full of energy. Maybe one day they’ll make a film about this story — about him in the colony, and me here. It’s a story of love, strength, and war. And hope. I know he dreams of writing that book. I dream of holding him again».
As of now, the Russian government has held Serhii Tsyhipa — a civilian hostage — for over 1,000 days. His family demands his release and calls on the world not to stay silent.
This story was produced in collaboration with The Reckoning Project — a global team of journalists and lawyers dedicated to documenting and gathering evidence for the investigation of war crimes — exclusively for Signal to Resist.
