In early May, Russian forces detained Iryna Levchenko and her husband, Oleksandr, in the Russian-occupied city of Melitopol. Iryna Levchenko’s relatives lost contact with her and her husband on 5 May 2023 but asked not to publicise their detention until 30 May.
Iryna Levchenko worked for years as a reporter for several Ukrainian news outlets, and retired from journalism after Russian forces occupied Melitopol in late February 2022. She had not worked in any capacity since then. Her husband is also retired and did not work as a journalist. The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) connects her detention with her journalistic background. Both Iryna and Oleksandr have health issues.
Their exact whereabouts are unknown. NUJU’s branch in the region of Zaporizhzhia stated that the pair were held in “inhumane conditions, almost without food, in a cold basement, on a concrete floor” and were “subjected to physical and psychological torture”, before Iryna was transferred to an undisclosed location. NUJU’s president Sergiy Tomilenko informed IPI that Russian occupying forces had likely charged Iryna and her husband with “extremism”.
Levchenko worked as a reporter covering local news and social issues for the Noviy Den local newspaper, local news website Mltpl.City, and national newspaper Fakty i Kommentarii.