Moscow without mercy

Ukrainian woman sentenced to 12 years in prison for balloons

The 35-year-old Ukrainian Kristina Lyubashenko received an unbelievable prison sentence for a balloon campaign in Moscow.

(Bild: Mediazona)

After the start of the major Russian war of aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, Kristina Lyubashenko fled from Kiev to Switzerland with her family. As she had too little money to live on, she got carried away with a disastrous balloon campaign in Moscow ...

Kristina Lyubashenko is now 35 years old and lived in the Ukrainian capital until the war unleashed by Russia. She has two young children and is also responsible for her mother, who has cancer, and her grandfather, who suffers from dementia. In 2022, the family fled to Switzerland and were granted asylum there, reports the independent Russian news portal Mediazona. However, the five barely managed to make ends meet with the money they were granted.

One day, the woman met a neighbor who claimed to be "a refugee from Ukraine". He initially lent Lyubashenko money, but then asked her to fly to Moscow and organize a "peaceful action against the war" in return for payment. All she had to do was release blue and yellow balloons into the sky, he promised.

Surveilled and blackmailed
At the time, there was no mention of a white-blue-white flag or loudspeakers playing the Ukrainian anthem and a text. The white-blue-white color scheme has been a symbol of the protests against the Russian invasion of Ukraine since March 2022. The neighbor had arranged a flight ticket to Moscow for the 35-year-old and provided her with a rented apartment in the Russian capital. There, the woman was monitored and forced to follow instructions.

View of Moscow from the Sparrow Hills

(Bild: stock.adobe)

After arriving in the Russian capital, the neighbor demanded that the Ukrainian woman place loudspeakers playing an anti-war speech by her window. She initially did not want to comply, according to her statement. After that, however, things got really uncomfortable: according to the statement, the neighbor threatened to call in the authorities and take custody of her children if she refused. The woman was even able to prove in court that she was the victim of blackmail.

Seeing no way out, Lyubashenko placed loudspeakers outside her window, which broadcast an anti-war speech alongside the Ukrainian anthem. She then drove to the Sparrow Hills in the center of the Russian metropolis and released balloons into the sky. However, according to reports, the balloons were white balloons with a small white-blue-white flag on them.

Action ended far worse than expected
The 35-year-old was reportedly arrested on the spot. The circumstances and background are unlikely to have interested anyone. On the other hand, the Russian judiciary deemed the action with the loudspeakers to be the dissemination of "fake news" about the army. The woman was charged with "participation in a terrorist organization" for the balloons.

On Monday, the court sentenced the Ukrainian woman harshly. She must now spend twelve years in Russia's notorious penal camps. Originally, the public prosecutor's office had even demanded a 15-year prison sentence - the fact that she has two small children had been taken into account as a "mitigating circumstance".