Oleksandra Kazarovytska, co-founder of a Kharkiv language school, died after a reported detention in occupied Crimea, where colleagues said she had been held pending trial.
The Professional language school said Kazarovytska was 44 and served as its director of studies. It said she traveled to Sevastopol in summer 2026 to help her parents sell their apartment and prepare to move to Türkiye.
Her colleagues said Russian security forces detained her after finding correspondence with a volunteer dating to the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They described three months of solitary confinement before trial. Their account of the detention has not been independently verified.
Ukrainska Pravda and Kyiv Independent reported that an account attributed to Russian authorities recorded her death on Oct. 25. The outlets also reported that she was buried in Sevastopol on Nov. 4 and that authorities attributed her death to suicide. The reported cause has not been independently confirmed.
Ukrainska Pravda separately reported that the occupying authorities had not disclosed the specific criminal charge against her.
The school blamed Russia for her death, saying, “Russia killed her.” It also described Kazarovytska as “an incredibly kind and talented person.”
Memorial and Ukrainska Pravda reported colleagues’ account that she was born in Sevastopol and later spent much of her adult life in Kharkiv.
The Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a report published Sept. 23, 2025, that Russia lacked a framework for civilian internment required by international humanitarian law. Reviewing detention cases dating from 2022, the report found torture and other mistreatment of Ukrainian civilians on a broad scale. It did not address Kazarovytska’s case.
