A Ukrainian Citizen Has Been Held On Okrestina For Almost A Year Without Charges
- 7.06.2026, 13:14
The Lukashists are putting psychological pressure on her.
62-year-old Ukrainian citizen Natalya Batasheva has been held in the capital's Okrestina TDF for almost a year without criminal charges. According to her former cellmate, the Ukrainian has serious health problems and is under psychological pressure in captivity, the human rights center "Viasna" reports.
Natalya Batasheva is from the Ukrainian town of Mirgorod. Prior to her detention, she worked as an accountant at a school. In the summer of 2025, the woman, together with her husband, came to Belarus on business. According to the woman's former cellmate, Batasheva's husband is a Belarusian, a former serviceman, who lived in Ukraine for many years and served there.
They were detained on June 23, 2025 in Vitsebsk right on the street and immediately taken to Minsk. Natalia was placed in the temporary detention center in Okrestina, while the whereabouts of her husband (his name is presumably Viktor) are still unknown.
The woman is not explained the reason for her detention, is not charged, is not allowed to meet with a lawyer and is not even allowed to contact her family. As noted by a former cellmate, Natalia is under psychological pressure, so the woman is in a difficult psychological state. It is also known that Natalia was placed in a punishment cell.
Natalia's health has seriously deteriorated during her imprisonment, but she is not provided with necessary and quality medical care - only periodically given available pills. In May this year, she suffered at least three severe bouts of tachycardia, and in the mornings Natalia has had severe heart coughing fits. In addition, during her imprisonment the Ukrainian had severe inflammation of submandibular lymph nodes.
In addition, the law enforcers took from the woman 1200 dollars to pay for her detention in the TDF. At the same time, they promised her that she would be deported to Ukraine.
- Natalia tried to send a message to call her relatives in Mirgorod and tell them where she was kept, as she was considered missing. But after that, the KGB officers came to her, questioned her about who and why she sent the message, and frightened her," recalls a woman sitting with the Ukrainian.
Because Natalia has no relatives in Belarus, no one brings her packages - she has received them only twice this year. Therefore, she has hygiene products and a change of clothes only thanks to the help of her cellmates.
The cell where the woman is kept is about six by four meters and is designed for five people. But sometimes there were also 12 women there, so they had to sleep on the floor. Other foreign women were held along with Natalia, including Iranian student Hateri Hadadadi, who was later deported to Armenia. According to the former cellmate, only foreign women were taken to shower twice a week.
Human rights activists note that the prolonged detention of a person in the TDF without charge and without access to a lawyer contradicts both Belarusian legislation and international standards of treatment of detainees.