The Ukrainian state has responded to a devastating expert report that demonstrated that the charges of “state treason” against Bogdan Syrotiuk lack any foundation, by stepping up the pressure on the 26-year old socialist. Bogdan has been imprisoned since April 2024 and faces a sentence of between 15 years and life in prison. He was the founder and leader of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists, a Trotskyist youth organization in the former Soviet Union, that opposed the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the NATO proxy war by fighting to unify the working class of Russia and Ukraine.

In the fall, a linguistic report by one of Ukraine’s most prominent criminologists, meticulously examined the charges of “state treason” and work on behalf of the Russian Federation by the prosecution which are based entirely on publications of the World Socialist Web Site. The report completely shattered the case of the prosecution which, for over a year, had already failed to deliver any evidence in court.

The response by the court has been to commission a third linguistic report. Originally due in late December, it has not been presented to this day. The next court session was postponed several times. When the court finally convened again on February 23, it only ruled to prolong Bogdan’s pre-trial detention. 

Meanwhile, Bogdan has been denied urgently necessary medical care to treat his teeth. Like many people in the former Soviet Union, where the state of medical care and the general health of the population underwent a staggering decline as a result of the restoration of capitalism, Bogdan suffers from serious dental problems. He experiences severe pain and is threatened with serious mid- and long term health consequences. For over a year now, he has been promised treatment by a dentist outside the prison since the prison facility cannot provide the necessary procedures. Under one flimsy pretext after another, this visit has been postponed time and again. A new prison administration is now no longer even trying to arrange it. 

There is nothing accidental about this treatment. It is a means to increase the personal pressure on Bogdan under conditions where the case of the prosecution has effectively fallen apart and the campaign in his international defense has been gaining an ever wider hearing. Before the expert’s report, the defense of Bogdan reached another important milestone with the decision of the European Court for Human Rights to review his case. This makes Bogdan’s case one of only very few from Ukraine that have been admitted, despite the widespread violation of human rights in the country. 

The case before the ECHR rests upon the violation of his right to liberty, enshrined in Article 6. However, there is abundant evidence for serious violations of at least two other articles: the right to a fair trial and the prohibition of inhumane and degrading treatment. 

There is a recent precedent for the inhumane treatment Bogdan is now subjected to: In June 2025, the European Court ruled that the Ukrainian government had violated this article by denying a prisoner effective dental treatment in detention. Oleksiy Benyukh had all of his teeth extracted, causing serious pain and humiliation. But despite a medical diagnosis in 2019, he was denied free dentures for no less than 19 months. This was in violation of Ukrainian law, too, which prescribes treatments in such cases. Yet Benyukh eventually only received dentures thanks to the intervention of a Christian NGO. 

In other, even more severe cases, the Ukrainian state is known to have withheld medical care, resulting in the death of prisoners. Perhaps most notoriously, the American-Chilean journalist Gonzalo Lira was detained in Ukraine and died after being denied treatment for pneumonia and other illnesses. 

The situation is urgent: In cases of serious dental problems, failure of timely medical intervention can have severe consequences, going well beyond the immediate excruciating pain. These potential consequences include chronic infections, which can spread to other parts of the body and, in the worst case, can cause sepsis. They also heighten the risk of or aggravate cardiovascular diseases and diabetes, from which Bogdan already suffers. 

There will be no justice for Bogdan within the Ukrainian court system. The case against him is a case against the International Committee, aimed at de facto outlawing Trotskyism and intimidating any opposition from the left to the ongoing war in Ukraine. The only path to freedom for Bogdan lies in an intensification and broadening of the international defense campaign. 

We call upon all readers to sign the petition, and demand that he immediately be granted the necessary medical procedure! The European Court of Human Rights must speed up its review of the case! All charges must be dropped and Bogdan be released! To support this campaign, spread the word about the case and make a donation here!