Ivan Hanzii and Yevhen Shohin are political prisoners

The two Ukrainians are being prosecuted under anti-terrorism laws for having served in the Aidar Battalion

The ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project, in accordance with international standards, considers Ivan Hanzii and Yevhen Shohin political prisoners. Hanzii and Shohin are being criminally prosecuted on charges of participating in a terrorist group for serving in the Aidar battalion. Their prosecution violates their right to a fair trial, as well as the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of prisoners of war and civilians during armed conflict. We demand that all criminal charges against Hanzii and Shohin be dropped and that their treatment comply with the norms of international law.

What are the charges against Ivan Hanzii and Yevhen Shohin?

On 13 November 2024, it was reported that the ‘Prosecutor’s Office of the Luhansk People’s Republic [LPR]’ had transferred the cases of Ivan Hanzii and Yevhen Shohin to court. We do not know when, where, or under what circumstances the two men were detained, but both were charged with participation in a terrorist group (Article 205.4, Part 2, of the Russian Criminal Code). According to the investigative authorities, in 2014 the two men ‘voluntarily joined’ the Aidar Battalion where they served as riflemen and took part in combat operations in eastern Ukraine.

We do not know whether 78-year-old Hanzii and 51-year-old Shohin actually served in the Aidar Battalion, but pro-Kremlin Telegram channels have actively circulated videos of Hanzii allegedly confessing.

On 6 February 2025, the Southern District Military Court found Ivan Hanzii guilty, though the length of his sentence is unknown. The trial of Yevhen Shohin is ongoing.

Why do we consider Ivan Hanzii and Yevhen Shohin political prisoners?

Ivan Hanzii and Yevhen Shohin are being prosecuted not for any specific acts of violence, but for their alleged affiliation with the Aidar Battalion, a unit of the Ukrainian armed forces.

The designation of the Aidar Battalion as a terrorist organisation was made by the self-proclaimed ‘Donetsk People’s Republic’ [DPR] and LPR in 2016. These rulings have no legal validity, as the DPR and LPR were themselves established unlawfully. Russia officially designated the Aidar Battalion a terrorist organisation only in September 2023. Nonetheless, these rulings apply to the Aidar Battalion and not the 24th Separate Assault Battalion of the Ukrainian armed forces.

The criminalisation of membership in this military unit is in gross violation of the Geneva Conventions, which prohibit the prosecution of combatants for participation in hostilities and forbid collective punishment. We consider decisions to designate individual units of the Ukrainian armed forces as terrorist groups to be attempts to provide grounds for such collective punishment.

We do not know whether Hanzii and Shohin were on active military service at the time of their arrest. If they were, then prosecuting them is a clear breach of the Geneva Conventions as noted above. If they were not combatants, then their prosecution violates the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, which forbids the application of an occupier’s laws to prosecute civilians in occupied territories.

Ivan Hanzii, at 78 years old, is the oldest Ukrainian serviceman known to us to be prosecuted by the Russian authorities. A prison sentence may prove a death sentence for him.

A detailed description of the cases of Ivan Hanzii and Yevhen Shohin and of our position is available on our website.

Recognition of individuals as political prisoners does not imply that the ‘Political Prisoners. Memorial’ human rights project agrees with or approves of their views, statements, or actions.

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