On March 22, 2022, Olga Galanina, a former deputy of the Primorsky City Council for the Opposition Platform – For Life party and deputy head of the Berdiansk administration for humanitarian affairs, was arrested by the SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) under Article 208 of the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine, i.e., “at the scene of the crime.”
Galanina is accused of “attempted treason” and “attempted collaborationist activity.” These are serious and especially serious crimes (Part 2, Article 15, Part 2, Article 111, Part 2, Article 15, Part 5, Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), qualified as:
- a completed attempt to commit treason in the form of defecting to the enemy during martial law and providing assistance to a foreign state, foreign organization, or their representatives in carrying out subversive activities against Ukraine during martial law;
- a completed attempt to voluntarily assume a position involving organizational and administrative functions in an illegal authority created in temporarily occupied territory.
Under the more serious charge (Part 2, Article 111 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine), Galanina faces life imprisonment.
The indictment states that Galanina “agreed to assist unidentified representatives of the Russian Federation and received instructions to conduct subversive activities against Ukraine by collecting information necessary for the functioning of the military administration,” and also that “being the deputy head of the Berdiansk administration for humanitarian affairs… voluntarily agreed to take the position of deputy head of the Berdiansk district, involving organizational and administrative functions, in an illegal authority planned to be created in the occupied territory.” However, neither of these “illegal actions were completed due to reasons beyond her control.” In other words, she intended to commit these acts but did not. The indictment explains that her actions were prevented by her arrest by SBU representatives in Zaporizhzhia Oblast on March 22, 2022.
Ukrainian media reports state that Galanina was detained under unspecified circumstances while crossing the contact line. That is, the reason for her travel to Ukrainian-controlled territory is unclear. However, court documents indicate that she was traveling to her son in the city of Dnipro.
According to the indictment, on the night of March 21, Galanina spoke to her son on the phone, informing him that she would continue working in her previous role but on behalf of the Russian Federation, and that no one yet knew of her decision. She also noted the danger this cooperation posed to all her relatives. She proved to be correct.
According to our information, Olga Galanina left Berdiansk for the Ukrainian-controlled city of Zaporizhzhia because her son, a student at the Dnipro Medical Academy, was abducted. On March 21, SBU officers abducted him from his dormitory room to pressure his mother, illegally detaining him in a hostel at gunpoint. They used force and threatened the young man with weapons to get him to confirm that his mother was a traitor.
Galanina claimed her arrest was unjustified during the court hearing and that her son had been abducted. She requested an investigation into the alleged psychological abuse, threats of harm, and threats to the lives and health of her relatives. The court ignored this, stating that no previous statements, remarks, or complaints had been received from her, implying everything was in order.
According to the SBU, Galanina’s arrest allegedly took place “at the scene of the crime.” The SBU unapologetically wrote in a March 23 motion for a search warrant for her son’s dormitory that Galanina left Berdiansk for Dnipro on March 22, 2022, “to carry out reconnaissance and sabotage activities” on behalf of the Russian special services. However, this claim is absent from the final indictment.
The indictment states:
“The official voluntarily decided to assist in the illegal activities of FSB officers and Russian servicemen. She carried out their criminal tasks and provided the occupiers with information regarding emergencies and events, the state of humanitarian and socio-humanitarian aid in the city (provision of the city with food, essential goods, medicines, and fuels and lubricants, with the aim of delivering humanitarian aid by the occupying administration of the aggressor state), the readiness of agricultural enterprises for sowing, salary payments, social benefits and pensions, the state of the banking system, the availability of funds for payments, and much more.”
This refers to important, non-political issues of vital importance, necessary to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe, which was highly relevant in those territories in the spring of 2022.
Since her arrest, Galanina’s case has seen little substantive progress. Defense motions to recuse the prosecutor, who allegedly committed numerous violations, and to deem evidence inadmissible have been rejected. The court mainly convenes every two months to extend her pre-trial detention. Lawyers have repeatedly requested a change of measure to at least 24-hour house arrest, citing Galanina’s poor health. She suffers from stage 2 hypertension, underwent surgery in January 2022, and her health deteriorated during her detention in the Zaporizhzhia pre-trial detention center. In the summer of 2024, Galanina was released from pre-trial detention on bail of almost 1 million hryvnias. The criminal prosecution continues.
