Crimean journalist pleads with EU to stop torture in Russian penal colony

Her family delivered the message, according to the human rights organization ZMINA.

Danylovych described the brutal conditions at Women’s Penal Colony No. 7 in Zelenokumsk, Stavropol Krai, calling it “endless hell.” Prison authorities keep bright lights on all night, preventing inmates from sleeping — even with eye masks. Each day, they blast extremely loud audio through speakers in the barracks for hours.

These conditions wear Danylovych down, especially since she suffers from untreated ear inflammation.

Guards also force the women to stand outside for hours in bad weather.

Danylovych described all of this as torture. She urged both the European community and Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova to take action.

Before her arrest, Danylovych defended the rights of healthcare workers in Russian-occupied Crimea and exposed violations in the health system. In 2022, FSB agents abducted her, held her in a basement without legal access, and later sentenced her to seven years in prison on charges of allegedly possessing explosives — accusations widely regarded by human rights organizations as fabricated.

• The body of Ukrainian journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity, was returned to Ukraine bearing signs of torture, autopsy, and missing internal organs.