Detention of a Ukrainian woman at Russia’s request in Kazakhstan: Lubinets said the woman may have been "lured out"
Kyiv • UNN
Lyubov Rozhanska was detained in Astana in connection with a Russian case when she was traveling to Ukraine to pick up her grandson. Lubinets urged that she not be extradited.
In Kazakhstan, Ukrainian citizen Liubov Rozhanska was detained at Russia’s request after traveling to the country to collect her minor grandson and return him to Ukraine. Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets has already appealed to Kazakhstan’s ombudsman, Artur Lastayev, urging him to prevent the Ukrainian woman’s extradition to the Russian Federation, reports UNN.
Details
Rozhanska arrived in Kazakhstan for humanitarian reasons, but was taken into custody over a criminal case initiated by the Russian side back in 2023. The ombudsman said that, according to the information available to him, the woman may have been deliberately lured to Kazakhstan. According to him, the child’s "new" relatives in Russia allegedly contacted Rozhanska in cooperation with the FSB and persuaded her to travel to collect her grandson herself.
"The woman believed them and came to Astana, unaware that preparations were already underway in Russia for her detention," Lubinets reported.
According to him, the Russian side is currently seeking the Ukrainian woman’s extradition. Lubinets also stressed that handing Rozhanska over to Russian security forces could pose a serious threat to her safety, health and respect for her fundamental rights.
"Therefore, I immediately appealed to Kazakhstan’s Ombudsman Artur Lastayev, urging him to prevent any extradition, surrender or forced transfer of Liubov Rozhanska to Russia. I also held a telephone conversation with him separately," the human rights commissioner said.
Lubinets also called for the conditions of the Ukrainian woman’s detention and the legal grounds for depriving her of her liberty to be examined, as well as for her to be provided with full access to Ukrainian diplomatic and consular representatives and a lawyer.
In addition, the ombudsman drew attention to the situation involving Rozhanska’s grandson. According to his information, the boy’s mother took him to Russia in 2021, and in 2022 obtained Russian citizenship for herself and the child. At the same time, in March 2025, the Supreme Court determined Odesa as the child’s place of residence. The grandmother traveled to Kazakhstan to collect the child and return him to Ukraine, but was herself detained in a case initiated by Russia.
The commissioner urged Ukrainians whose children are in Russia or in temporarily occupied territories not to attempt to return them on their own by traveling to the Russian Federation or third countries.
"Traveling to the Russian Federation independently or attempting to collect a child through third countries may create serious risks for the relatives themselves and jeopardize the child’s subsequent return," Lubinets stressed.
He advised people in such cases to contact Ukraine’s official state institutions, in particular the Ombudsman’s Office, which works to return Ukrainian children from deportation, forced displacement and foreign countries.