Vorona Maksim Viktorovich (Vorona Maksim Viktorovich)

On December 3, 2018, in occupied Donetsk, Russian security forces abducted a local resident, Ukrainian citizen Sergey Gruzinov. He was seized near the store where he worked, taken to an unknown location in a basement, where he was subjected to torture and physical abuse, threatened with violence, and had threats of violence made against his family. The security forces applied electric shocks to the man, beat him with plastic water pipes, water bottles, suspended him by his handcuffs and continued beating him in that position, and handcuffed him to a grate so that he could not even sit down on the concrete.

Gruzinov was forced to sign pre-prepared reports and was compelled to handle a rifle, grenades, and ammunition.

In February 2019, Sergey was admitted to Kalinin Hospital in Donetsk for a month: he was taken there by ambulance with severe pain in the lower right side of his torso following “measures”—the use of torture against him.

On March 21, 2019, while crossing the “Yelenovka checkpoint” in the Donetsk region, Russian security forces detained two Ukrainian citizens: 37-year-old Natalia Vlasova and 46-year-old Viktor Shidlovsky. They were taken away in a sack, beaten, and threatened with having their fingers cut off. They were subjected to torture for nearly four months—until July 5, 2019, when they were transferred to a pretrial detention center and formally arrested.

The Ukrainians were charged with participating in and aiding a terrorist organization. Gruzinov, Shidlovsky, and Vlasova were also charged with espionage, illegally crossing the border, and plotting an assassination attempt against Vasily Evdokimov, the head of the “DPR MGB” Special Operations Center.

According to the Russian investigation, between 2016 and 2018, SBU officers recruited Sergei Gruzinov to participate in a terrorist organization. In the spring of 2018, he was tasked with assassinating Vasily Evdokimov, a figure in the self-proclaimed “DPR,” who is considered the founder of the secret “Izolyatsia” prison in Donetsk. To this end, he traveled to Donetsk, rented an apartment, and worked in a store, making occasional trips to Kyiv.

After Gruzinov was detained, the SBU allegedly sent Shidlovsky and Vlasova to Donetsk to free Gruzinov “by attacking law enforcement officers,” but they were detained upon arrival in Donetsk.

Other defendants in the case included Ukrainian citizens Makim Vorona, Gia Kapanadze, and Andriy Borzunov, who, according to the prosecution, provided aiding and abetting assistance to Vlasova, Gruzinov, and Shidlovsky between 2016 and 2019. Vorona was also charged with transferring money to the territory of the “DPR.” In court, he insisted that he did not know any of the other defendants in the case. The dates of Vorona’s, Kapanadze’s, and Borzunov’s detentions are unknown. During the investigation, they possessed passports issued by the self-proclaimed “DPR”; they subsequently obtained Russian citizenship and were released on their own recognizance.

Andrei Borzunov died of a stroke before sentencing.

On December 24, 2024, the Southern District Military Court found the defendants guilty and sentenced Sergey Gruzinov to 20 years’ imprisonment in a maximum-security prison, Viktor Shidlovsky—22 years’ imprisonment in a maximum-security prison, Natalia Vlasova—18 years’ imprisonment in a general-security prison, Gia Kapnadze—6 years’ imprisonment in a general-security prison, and Maxim Voron to 5 years and 6 months in a general-regime prison. Kapnadze and Voron were taken into custody in the courtroom.

The case against Borzunov was separated into a separate proceeding due to his death.

On January 26, 2026, the Military Court of Appeals upheld the sentence.