On April 29, 2026, the Main Directorate of the Security Service of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea served a notice of suspicion on a Crimean “judge” who unlawfully convicted a resident of the peninsula for refusing to serve in the occupation army.

Who is the suspect

Natalia Viktorovna Kvetkina (born May 24, 1977) is a native of Simferopol.

No later than July 4, 2015, she voluntarily accepted an offer from representatives of the Russian occupation administration and took a position as a “judge” at the illegally established “Kerch City Court of the Republic of Crimea,” where she worked at least until the end of 2018.

By a decree of the President of the Russian Federation dated December 30, 2018, she was appointed “judge” and “deputy chair” of the незаконного “Railway District Court of Simferopol.”

On March 18, 2025, she was reappointed to the same positions for a six-year term by presidential decree.

Circumstances of the crime

Kvetkina presided over a criminal case against a Ukrainian citizen born in 2005, initiated in August 2024, after occupation authorities forced him into potential service in the armed forces of the occupying power.

He was charged under an article of the Russian Criminal Code on draft evasion, and the case was later referred to the Zaliznychny District Court of Simferopol for consideration on the merits.

Despite being aware that the Ukrainian was protected under international humanitarian law as a person under occupation, the court issued an unlawful verdict on September 30, 2024, finding him guilty and imposing a fine.

The sentence entered into force in October 2024.

As a result, the victim was forced to leave his place of permanent residence in Crimea due to the risk of further persecution and relocate to government-controlled territory of Ukraine via the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.

Notice of suspicion

Kvetkina is suspected under Part 1 of Article 28 and Part 1 of Article 438 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine (violation of the laws and customs of war), in connection with depriving a Ukrainian citizen in occupied territory of the right to a fair trial and unlawfully convicting him of a crime he did not commit.

Such actions violate the provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War and Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts.

She is also suspected of collaboration under Part 7 of Article 111-1 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.