The message from the Prosecutor General's Office states that the human rights center, whose founder was sentenced in Russia to 13 years in a colony and returned as part of a prisoner exchange, 'discredits' the policies of the Russian authorities and 'attempts to create conditions for destabilizing the socio-political situation in the country.' The agency also claims that ZMINA promotes the policies of 'unfriendly' countries and receives money from the US State Department, the authorities of the UK, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic.
ZMINA has been defending freedom of speech in Ukraine for over 10 years, fighting discrimination and torture, supporting human rights defenders and activists, including in Crimea. After the war began, the center started protecting Ukrainians affected by hostilities and documenting crimes of the Russian military. Among the founders of the center is Ukrainian human rights defender Maksym Butkevych, who documents cases of human rights violations in Ukraine, organizes educational programs, and collaborates with human rights defenders in annexed Crimea.
Butkevych, who joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the beginning of the war and was later captured, was sentenced in 2023 to 13 years in a maximum-security colony in the self-proclaimed LPR, found guilty under articles on 'cruel treatment' of civilians and prisoners of war and 'attempted murder of two people by a publicly dangerous method.' In October 2024, Butkevych returned to Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange.