OCCUPIED UKRAINE: Orthodox priest illegally transferred to Russian labour camp

Fr Kostiantyn Maksimov – who served a Ukrainian Orthodox parish in Tokmak in Russian-occupied Ukraine – arrived on 11 February at a strict regime labour camp in Russia's Saratov Region. Occupation forces seized him in May 2023. In November 2024 a closed hearing in absentia in Moscow rejected his appeal against his 14-year sentence on "espionage" charges. The Russian-installed Crimean Ombudsperson's Office refused to explain why Russian authorities illegally transfer prisoners from Russian-oc