Maksym Rupchev

Affiliated media: Telegram channel "Melitopol tse Ukraina" , Administrator

Incident date: November 19, 2025

Attack type:

• Administrative arrest, remand, pre-trial detention, prison

Who attacked: Authorities

Source: Mediazona

Location: Russia, Rostov Oblast, Rostov-on-Don

Additional information:

Maksym Rupchev, administrator of Telegram channel Melitopol tse Ukraina, was sentenced by the closed military Russian Rostov-on-Don court to 15 years of imprisonment for ‘terrorist act, espionage and participation in a terrorist entity’. Rupchev has been detained in Melitopol on 20 August 2023 along with a number of other Ukrainian media workers. Rupchev will serve the first three years in prison, with the remainder of his sentence to be served in a high-security colony. The court found him guilty of carrying out a terrorist act causing significant damage as part of a group, espionage, and participation in a terrorist organisation. The verdict was issued on 19 November 2025.