The story of Dmytro Shtyblikov is unprecedented. On November 8, 2021, he was supposed to be released after serving a 5-year sentence in the case of “Crimean saboteurs”.  On the same day, Shtyblikov was transferred to Rostov-on-Don and accused of “treason”. On April 29, 2022, the Ukrainian was sentenced to 19 years and 6 months in a strict regime colony. Russian media cover Dmytro as a high-ranking spy of the Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

His daughter Tetiana told the Association about Dmytro’s psychological state and health. His relatives receive news from him through occasional letters.“While the second investigation was in process, my father’s conditions of detention improved a little. He was transferred from Omsk to Rostov SIZO, where he had more or less normal food, a TV and a refrigerator. Then they gave him his first date in 5 years – my father met with his mother,” says Tetiana.

After the criminal verdict, Shtyblikov faced a long and difficult transfer back to IK No. 6 in Omsk, where he had been held before. The 52-year-old prisoner’s health deteriorated: he began to suffer from hypertension, his teeth are crumbling and his gums hurt.“My father’s eyesight has severely deteriorated and for some reason his glasses keep “breaking”. He doesn't get enough vitamins, because the food in the colony is terrible, and there is no normal food in the prison store,” says Tetiana.

Dmytro is constantly held alone in a cell without any possibility of communication and calls to relatives. The walk lasts one hour a day, and the number of books he can read per month is limited. His daughter says that despite everything, her father remains optimistic and expresses hope for an exchange in his letters.“Our family hopes that the state has not forgotten about political prisoners. We have been hearing for years that there is no political will in the Russian Federation for exchange — their authorities do not want to exchange Ukrainian civilians for their prisoners of war. Perhaps Russia will be more interested in priests of the Moscow Patriarchate, who knows,” the political prisoner’s daughter said.

As a reminder, former military experts Dmytro Shtyblikov, Volodymyr Dudka and Oleksii Bessarabov were detained in occupied Sevastopol in November 2016. They were accused of planning sabotage at military infrastructure facilities. Under torture and pressure, Shtyblikov incriminated himself, receiving the shortest sentence among the defendants – 5 years in a strict regime colony. After completing his first term, Shtyblikov was sentenced to 19 years and 6 months for treason.