Yuliji Lemešchenko received a long prison sentence in Russia. He tried to get rid of his Russian passport.
Yuliji Lemeshchenko was sentenced to 19 years in prison. ZUMAwire/MVphotos
Power taker Yuliji Lemeshchenko was sentenced to 19 years in prison in Russia. According to the Ukrainian Powerlifting Union, Lemeshchenko was accused of treason, terrorism and sabotage.
Lemeshchenko is a Russian citizen who moved to Kharkiv, Ukraine with her husband and child already in 2014. She studied in Ukraine and won the Ukrainian powerlifting championship in 2021.
Lemeshchenko tried to get rid of his Russian passport for a long time, but failed. He would have liked to apply for Ukrainian citizenship.
– The sentence is clearly political and oppressive. There is reason to suspect that some of the documents were signed under duress. The Powerlifting Federation of Ukraine condemns this unlawful persecution of a Ukrainian athlete, the Powerlifting Federation of Ukraine wrote on his Instagram account.
The long prison sentence was met with shock in Ukraine.
– No one could have expected something like this – no one. It was a shock to all of us, powerlifting coach Dmytro Pavlenko says.
You disappeared from the gym
Lemeshchenko wanted Ukrainian citizenship. ZUMAwire/MVphotos
According to The Guardian The regulars of the gym in Kharkiv were surprised in the fall of 2023 when Lemešchenko did not come to practice anymore. A few months later, the powerlifter was on trial in Moscow.
According to the indictment, Lemeshchenko planned assassinations and sabotage, which he intended to carry out in Russia on behalf of the Ukrainian security service. Prosecutors said the power lifter had blown up power lines outside St. Petersburg and ambushed a Russian air force commander in Voronezh, whom he intended to kill.
The power grabber was just arrested in his hometown of Voronezh.
Lemeshchenko did not deny the charges. He said during the trial that his conscience was clear.
Russian authorities have systematically threatened, abused and tortured Ukrainian prisoners of war and other detainees accused of working for Ukraine. The Guardian reminds that because of this, the statements made during the arrest in Russia must be viewed critically.
Shock
According to the Russian security service FSB, Lemeshchenko joined the Ukrainian forces after working at the social media service Telegram. After this, the powerlifter was allegedly recruited and taken to Kyiv for training.
The war in Ukraine has touched Lemeshchenko closely. Russia has bombed the power lifter’s residential area in Kharkiv heavily.
Several of Lemešchenko’s friends have died in the war.
– I don’t consider myself a coward or a weak person. I decided to fight against Russia’s military aggression, Lemeshchenko told about the traces left by the war in his trial.
Lemeshchenko would have liked to represent Ukraine at the national team level. He couldn’t because he didn’t get citizenship.