On August 10, a court in Ukraine’s Nikolaev region sentenced Bogdan Syrotiuk, a 27-year-old Ukrainian socialist and anti-war activist, to 15 years in prison. His crime? Writing articles.
Bogdan, a leading member of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists, was convicted of high treason under martial law. Yet the case against him contains no act of treason, no espionage, no sabotage, no collaboration with any military force. The sole ‘evidence’ was six articles he published on the World Socialist Web Site and his communications with the editors who published them.
The verdict effectively condemned Bogdan for exposing the truth about the regime of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose term expired in May 2024 and who rules by decree under permanent martial law with elections cancelled.
Bogdan also revealed the regime’s official glorification of Stepan Bandera and the leaders of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and Waffen-SS Galicia Division—Nazi collaborators who supported Hitler’s invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941 and took part in the mass murder of Jews and Poles.
When Bogdan was arrested in April 2024, the state claimed he was a Russian agent. In more than two years, not a shred of evidence of this was produced—indeed, the articles cited in his conviction make explicit his opposition to the Russian invasion and the Putin regime. A 65-page report by one of Ukraine’s leading criminologists found no support for Russian aggression in his writings. The court simply ignored it.
Bogdan was imprisoned, in part, for a 2023 speech:
“I am speaking to you, dear listeners, from war-torn Ukraine. This war was unleashed by US imperialism, NATO, and the Putin regime. It is an imperialist war, waged not in the interests of the proletariat of Russia, Ukraine and America but in the interests of capital in these countries. This war is the result of capitalism, a system stricken with a deadly disease. In anticipation of its impending death and bristling with weapons of mass destruction, capitalism is digging a grave for all living things, to bury them before they bury it.”
The court ordered the destruction of Bogdan’s socialist books, leaflets and programmatic documents. Left-wing politics have been outlawed in Ukraine since 2015, and 1 opposition parties were suspended in 2022.
Why now? Because opposition to the war is mounting. In Ukraine, more than 300,000 criminal cases have been opened against soldiers for desertion, and in 2025, 69 percent of Ukrainians told Gallup they wanted a negotiated end to the war. Terrified of this anti-war sentiment, the Zelensky government is intensifying repression while NATO prepares for direct entry into the war.
Ukraine’s prisons are notorious for overcrowding and deaths in custody. Bogdan, whose health was already poor at the time of his arrest, has been denied urgently needed medical treatment for over a year. A 15-year sentence in a Ukrainian prison is effectively a death sentence.
This is not just an attack on one man. It is part of the assault on democratic rights internationally—the same suppression is being prepared against opposition to Israel’s genocide in Gaza. The fight to free Bogdan is inseparable from the global struggle against imperialist war, dictatorship and fascism.
Students and young people at WSU should take up this fight. The International Youth and Students for Social Equality is calling for Bogdan’s immediate and unconditional release and the annulment of this fraudulent verdict. His fate cannot be left to courts that have demonstrated their contempt for democratic rights. His freedom will be won through the mobilisation of workers and youth internationally.
Sign and circulate the petition for his freedom. Pass resolutions in your clubs. Attend the IYSSE’s meetings on campus. Bogdan Syrotiuk said war must be stopped by a united Russian and Ukrainian working class. For that, he faces 15 years in prison. We must not let it stand.
Disclaimer:
This is an opinion piece. The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of W’SUP, its editorial team, or Western Sydney University.
