Crimean Journalist Ill-Treated and Denied Medical Care in Russian Prison

February 08, 2026 – Crimea/Russia –

A Crimean journalist imprisoned by Russian authorities is reportedly suffering serious health deterioration amid allegations of denial of adequate medical treatment and ill-treatment behind bars, rights groups and media watchdogs say. Iryna Danylovych, a freelance correspondent from Crimea, has been held since April 2022 after being sentenced to seven years in prison on charges her supporters describe as politically motivated.

Danylovych, a nurse by training who contributed to local and independent media outlets including InZhir Media and Crimean Process, was convicted by a Russian-controlled court in Crimea in December 2022 on charges of illegally handling explosives — charges she has consistently denied, and human rights advocates argue were fabricated in retaliation for her reporting on healthcare and other sensitive local issues. Danylovych was arrested in Crimea’s Feodosia region and subsequently transferred to a prison facility where she remains detained.

Sources close to her family report that her health has significantly worsened due to chronic headaches, hearing loss in one ear, and what she has described as symptoms suggestive of neurological complications. Despite multiple requests and parcels of prescribed medications sent by her relatives, authorities have allegedly refused to provide consistent or adequate care, effectively denying treatment for conditions that require evaluation and intervention in a civilian medical facility. Her father and human rights advocates have publicly described the prison’s medical response as insufficient and dismissive, contributing to ongoing suffering.

Advocacy groups, including the Committee to Protect Journalists and other press freedom organisations, have called on Russian authorities to grant Danylovych immediate access to appropriate medical care and review the legitimacy of her conviction, highlighting that her continued detention under deteriorating health conditions amounts to punitive treatment of a journalist for her work. They warn that ongoing denial of healthcare may have irreversible consequences if left unaddressed.

The case forms part of a broader pattern of repression targeting Ukrainian journalists and civic activists in Russian-controlled territories, where international rights monitors report arbitrary detention, politically driven prosecutions, and systemic barriers to medical care for prisoners. Critics argue that such treatment undermines international human rights norms and the basic protections afforded to incarcerated individuals, regardless of political context.

Reference –

https://ifex.org/russia-crimean-journalist-ill-treated-and-denied-medical-care-in-prison/