Russia is putting her boyfriend on trial simply because he is Ukrainian. Kostya Zinovkin left home a year ago and never returned.
Source: Svoi.City
Author: Hanna KURTSANOVSKA
Konstantin Zinovkin is 34. He is from Melitopol and remained in his hometown after the occupation for personal reasons. On May 12, 2023, he left his home and never returned. Six months later, he appeared in a report on one of the propaganda TV channels. Konstantin was giving testimony to a Russian investigator. Kostya is a civilian whom the Russians accuse of terrorism.
Konstantin’s wife, Lucienne, shared his story with Svoi. She has been living abroad since the start of the full-scale war. She regularly attends rallies in support of Ukrainians held captive by Russia and maintains contact with the office of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, the Coordination Headquarters, the Joint Center, and civil society organizations addressing the issue of civilian hostages.
They worked abroad to fulfill her husband’s
dream Konstantin and Lucienne are originally from Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, a city that has been occupied by Russian troops since February 26, 2022. They met in 2012 while working as counselors at the “Chaika” children’s health camp in Kyrylivka, on the shores of the Azov Sea. They got married three years later. They worked together in China, performing in dance and entertainment shows at amusement parks similar to Disneyland.
“We set aside part of the money we earned for Kostya’s dream. He wanted to open his own metalworking shop with various machines—milling machines, lathes, and so on. To make this happen, we needed a lot of money, so we combined business with pleasure: we traveled around China for three years, working and earning money for our shared future.”
Three years before the full-scale war, the couple returned to Ukraine. Kostyantyn set about setting up the workshop. According to his wife, he invested not only the money he had earned but also almost all of his time and soul into this venture. The workshop was almost ready to open, but on February 24, 2022, the Russian army launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“On the day of the full-scale invasion, Kostya and I were in different cities: I was in Kyiv, and he was in Melitopol. And since Russian troops entered the city very quickly, we decided it made no sense for me to return to Melitopol. I left for Germany, and I’m in Berlin now. Kostya decided not to leave because of his elderly mother and grandmother, who can barely walk. He stayed behind to care for them and help them.”
Konstantin disappeared and was later found in a secret detention center
The family lived under occupation for over a year. Then, on May 12, 2023, Konstantin disappeared. He left the house in the morning and never returned. According to his wife, literally 15 minutes after he left the house, three unknown men in civilian clothes, wearing balaclavas, came to his mother’s and grandmother’s apartment.
“They unlocked the apartment with my husband’s keys and searched the entire place. They rummaged through his belongings for several hours. They told Kostya’s mother that he had been detained for violating the curfew. They said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll sort this out, let him go, and he’ll definitely come back.’ But several days passed, and he didn’t come home as those men had promised. So we started looking for Kostya.”
The missing man’s mother and sister first went to the military commandant’s office. There, they were told that Konstantin Zinovkin was not in their custody and were referred to the police. The police, in turn, recommended that they contact the Russian National Guard. And so it went, in a never-ending cycle. The family never received any information about Konstantin at that time. Everywhere they went, they were told that civilians are not detained.
At the end of June, the Zinovkin family’s apartment was raided again—the fourth time, according to Lyusiena’s count. Along with the men in balaclavas was an investigator, though he did not show any identification.
They searched everything once more and photographed everything. And the man who identified himself as the investigator told his mother that Kostya had confessed to wanting to blow someone
up “And right now he’s at the police station in the urban-type settlement of Primorske, which is not far from Melitopol. After that, my mom went there; she didn’t see Kostya, but she managed to deliver some belongings and food to him—for the first time in a month and a half since his arrest. After that, she went there several more times. Then one of the soldiers told her that Kostya was being transferred to a pretrial detention center in the village of Chongar in the Henichesk district of the Kherson region, so there was no longer any need to bring him ‘care packages.’
Accused of terrorism and preparing to commit a crime
After that, contact with Kostyantyn was completely cut off because, according to my interviewee, the detention center in Chongar was secret and unofficial at the time. The Russian military did not confirm reports that people were being held there.
“Kostya’s mother didn’t dare to go there blindly. At the same time, I wrote a letter to the Russian authorities, and in mid-August I received a response from the Melitopol Prosecutor’s Office. They wrote to me that a criminal case had been opened against Kostya and that an investigation was currently underway under Article 205, Part 2, and Article 30, Part 3—which pertain to terrorism and preparation for a crime. The response stated that Kostya was in Chongar. After that, his mother was able to travel there once a month to bring him the necessities. At the same time, we were receiving letters from Kostya. Of course, they didn’t mention the case or who he was with there. He just wrote that everything was fine, that the food was more or less decent, and “don’t worry about me—I’m more worried about you.”
“I understand I’ll have to serve a long sentence. I have court-appointed Russian lawyers—don’t look for a new one, don’t hire anyone, don’t pay anyone; nothing will change—this isn’t something that can be resolved
with money.” That, in short, is what was in the letters. Later, I spoke with a guy who had been released. He’s a civilian too; he was held in Chongar with my Kostya for several months. So he told me that my husband is holding up well and is even cheering up all his cellmates.”
According to Lyusiena, after her husband was taken prisoner and following several thorough searches of their home, his workshop was ransacked. The dream that Konstantin Zinovkin had been saving up for over the years was destroyed by the occupiers in a single day. All the tools and equipment were taken from the premises.
Even in captivity, he says that Ukraine is an independent state, and Russia is a terrorist
state In late October 2023, the TV channel “Russia-1” aired the program “News of the Week with Dmitry Kiselyov.” It featured an extensive report on Melitopol, detailing how many Ukrainian partisans, saboteurs, spies, and others were in the city.
“And for about a minute and a half in this report, they talked about Kostya and his case. In it, they called Kostya a ‘saboteur, an unstable person, a zombie.’ Because even in captivity, he insists that Ukraine is an independent state, and Russia is a terrorist state. And the report says that my husband will have to serve a long sentence. It was the first time in a long time that I’d seen Kostya. His arms were there, his legs too. And that look in his eyes. In it, I saw resolve and steadfastness. It seemed to me that Kostya was holding his own mentally.”
At that time, Lyusienya managed to get in touch with her husband’s lawyer. They communicated on a social media platform, and, as she says, she learned that Kostyantyn was brought to Melitopol once every three months to extend his pretrial measures.
“But at the end of January this year, there was another hearing; we knew that Kostya would be brought to Melitopol. And after that hearing, Kostya disappeared. So as of now, for two months already, we don’t know where he was taken or what this ‘court’ decided at the end of January. I sent another appeal to the Russian side, but, unfortunately, there has been no response yet. And the lawyer has started ignoring me—he reads all my messages but doesn’t reply to any of them. So I’ve come to the conclusion that, most likely, Kostya was transferred somewhere else and the lawyer wasn’t authorized to tell his family where Kostya is.”
Lucienne is fighting for Kostya from abroad
Even in Berlin, Lucienne hasn’t stopped searching for her beloved husband from afar. According to her, Konstantin most likely confessed to the crimes the Russian side is charging him with under pressure.
“It’s hard for me to imagine how many years he’ll be sentenced to. There are many like Kostya—I mean civilians whom Russia is trying for fabricated crimes. And the worst part is that Ukrainian civilians convicted by the Russian side are not eligible for exchange. According to all laws of war and the Geneva Conventions, civilians, in principle, cannot be taken prisoner. But if this convention has already been violated and people are being held captive, then I would like to see some mechanisms put in place to bring civilians home. And there are a great many of them in Russia or in the temporarily occupied territories—thousands, and perhaps even tens of thousands.”
And although Konstantin Zinovkin was shown on Russian television as if he had been convicted, according to his wife, neither the Russian Ministry of Defense nor the Red Cross has yet confirmed that he is in their custody.
“Recently, people have finally started talking more and more about the problem of civilian hostages specifically and how to bring them home in general. I don’t know how much more time we’ll need, because civilians have been arrested and tried since 2014. That’s exactly why I shared this story—because I will continue to fight not only for Kostya, but also for all those who find themselves in the same situation as him.”
Author: Hanna KURTSANOVSKA
Konstantin Zinovkin is 34. He is from Melitopol and remained in his hometown after the occupation for personal reasons. On May 12, 2023, he left his home and never returned. Six months later, he appeared in a report on one of the propaganda TV channels. Konstantin was giving testimony to a Russian investigator. Kostya is a civilian whom the Russians accuse of terrorism.
Konstantin’s wife, Lucienne, shared his story with Svoi. She has been living abroad since the start of the full-scale war. She regularly attends rallies in support of Ukrainians held captive by Russia and maintains contact with the office of the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, the Coordination Headquarters, the Joint Center, and civil society organizations addressing the issue of civilian hostages.
They worked abroad to fulfill her husband’s
dream Konstantin and Lucienne are originally from Melitopol in the Zaporizhzhia region, a city that has been occupied by Russian troops since February 26, 2022. They met in 2012 while working as counselors at the “Chaika” children’s health camp in Kyrylivka, on the shores of the Azov Sea. They got married three years later. They worked together in China, performing in dance and entertainment shows at amusement parks similar to Disneyland.
“We set aside part of the money we earned for Kostya’s dream. He wanted to open his own metalworking shop with various machines—milling machines, lathes, and so on. To make this happen, we needed a lot of money, so we combined business with pleasure: we traveled around China for three years, working and earning money for our shared future.”
Three years before the full-scale war, the couple returned to Ukraine. Kostyantyn set about setting up the workshop. According to his wife, he invested not only the money he had earned but also almost all of his time and soul into this venture. The workshop was almost ready to open, but on February 24, 2022, the Russian army launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“On the day of the full-scale invasion, Kostya and I were in different cities: I was in Kyiv, and he was in Melitopol. And since Russian troops entered the city very quickly, we decided it made no sense for me to return to Melitopol. I left for Germany, and I’m in Berlin now. Kostya decided not to leave because of his elderly mother and grandmother, who can barely walk. He stayed behind to care for them and help them.”
Konstantin disappeared and was later found in a secret detention center
The family lived under occupation for over a year. Then, on May 12, 2023, Konstantin disappeared. He left the house in the morning and never returned. According to his wife, literally 15 minutes after he left the house, three unknown men in civilian clothes, wearing balaclavas, came to his mother’s and grandmother’s apartment.
“They unlocked the apartment with my husband’s keys and searched the entire place. They rummaged through his belongings for several hours. They told Kostya’s mother that he had been detained for violating the curfew. They said, ‘Don’t worry, we’ll sort this out, let him go, and he’ll definitely come back.’ But several days passed, and he didn’t come home as those men had promised. So we started looking for Kostya.”
The missing man’s mother and sister first went to the military commandant’s office. There, they were told that Konstantin Zinovkin was not in their custody and were referred to the police. The police, in turn, recommended that they contact the Russian National Guard. And so it went, in a never-ending cycle. The family never received any information about Konstantin at that time. Everywhere they went, they were told that civilians are not detained.
At the end of June, the Zinovkin family’s apartment was raided again—the fourth time, according to Lyusiena’s count. Along with the men in balaclavas was an investigator, though he did not show any identification.
They searched everything once more and photographed everything. And the man who identified himself as the investigator told his mother that Kostya had confessed to wanting to blow someone
up “And right now he’s at the police station in the urban-type settlement of Primorske, which is not far from Melitopol. After that, my mom went there; she didn’t see Kostya, but she managed to deliver some belongings and food to him—for the first time in a month and a half since his arrest. After that, she went there several more times. Then one of the soldiers told her that Kostya was being transferred to a pretrial detention center in the village of Chongar in the Henichesk district of the Kherson region, so there was no longer any need to bring him ‘care packages.’
Accused of terrorism and preparing to commit a crime
After that, contact with Kostyantyn was completely cut off because, according to my interviewee, the detention center in Chongar was secret and unofficial at the time. The Russian military did not confirm reports that people were being held there.
“Kostya’s mother didn’t dare to go there blindly. At the same time, I wrote a letter to the Russian authorities, and in mid-August I received a response from the Melitopol Prosecutor’s Office. They wrote to me that a criminal case had been opened against Kostya and that an investigation was currently underway under Article 205, Part 2, and Article 30, Part 3—which pertain to terrorism and preparation for a crime. The response stated that Kostya was in Chongar. After that, his mother was able to travel there once a month to bring him the necessities. At the same time, we were receiving letters from Kostya. Of course, they didn’t mention the case or who he was with there. He just wrote that everything was fine, that the food was more or less decent, and “don’t worry about me—I’m more worried about you.”
“I understand I’ll have to serve a long sentence. I have court-appointed Russian lawyers—don’t look for a new one, don’t hire anyone, don’t pay anyone; nothing will change—this isn’t something that can be resolved
with money.” That, in short, is what was in the letters. Later, I spoke with a guy who had been released. He’s a civilian too; he was held in Chongar with my Kostya for several months. So he told me that my husband is holding up well and is even cheering up all his cellmates.”
According to Lyusiena, after her husband was taken prisoner and following several thorough searches of their home, his workshop was ransacked. The dream that Konstantin Zinovkin had been saving up for over the years was destroyed by the occupiers in a single day. All the tools and equipment were taken from the premises.
Even in captivity, he says that Ukraine is an independent state, and Russia is a terrorist
state In late October 2023, the TV channel “Russia-1” aired the program “News of the Week with Dmitry Kiselyov.” It featured an extensive report on Melitopol, detailing how many Ukrainian partisans, saboteurs, spies, and others were in the city.
“And for about a minute and a half in this report, they talked about Kostya and his case. In it, they called Kostya a ‘saboteur, an unstable person, a zombie.’ Because even in captivity, he insists that Ukraine is an independent state, and Russia is a terrorist state. And the report says that my husband will have to serve a long sentence. It was the first time in a long time that I’d seen Kostya. His arms were there, his legs too. And that look in his eyes. In it, I saw resolve and steadfastness. It seemed to me that Kostya was holding his own mentally.”
At that time, Lyusienya managed to get in touch with her husband’s lawyer. They communicated on a social media platform, and, as she says, she learned that Kostyantyn was brought to Melitopol once every three months to extend his pretrial measures.
“But at the end of January this year, there was another hearing; we knew that Kostya would be brought to Melitopol. And after that hearing, Kostya disappeared. So as of now, for two months already, we don’t know where he was taken or what this ‘court’ decided at the end of January. I sent another appeal to the Russian side, but, unfortunately, there has been no response yet. And the lawyer has started ignoring me—he reads all my messages but doesn’t reply to any of them. So I’ve come to the conclusion that, most likely, Kostya was transferred somewhere else and the lawyer wasn’t authorized to tell his family where Kostya is.”
Lucienne is fighting for Kostya from abroad
Even in Berlin, Lucienne hasn’t stopped searching for her beloved husband from afar. According to her, Konstantin most likely confessed to the crimes the Russian side is charging him with under pressure.
“It’s hard for me to imagine how many years he’ll be sentenced to. There are many like Kostya—I mean civilians whom Russia is trying for fabricated crimes. And the worst part is that Ukrainian civilians convicted by the Russian side are not eligible for exchange. According to all laws of war and the Geneva Conventions, civilians, in principle, cannot be taken prisoner. But if this convention has already been violated and people are being held captive, then I would like to see some mechanisms put in place to bring civilians home. And there are a great many of them in Russia or in the temporarily occupied territories—thousands, and perhaps even tens of thousands.”
And although Konstantin Zinovkin was shown on Russian television as if he had been convicted, according to his wife, neither the Russian Ministry of Defense nor the Red Cross has yet confirmed that he is in their custody.
“Recently, people have finally started talking more and more about the problem of civilian hostages specifically and how to bring them home in general. I don’t know how much more time we’ll need, because civilians have been arrested and tried since 2014. That’s exactly why I shared this story—because I will continue to fight not only for Kostya, but also for all those who find themselves in the same situation as him.”
This is an automatic translation generated by DeepL.
