With the onset of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014, Elena Sorokina, a resident of the city of Pervomaisk (Luhansk region), was unable to leave for the government-controlled territory. Living under occupation, she did not hide her pro-Ukrainian stance. Elena believed that Ukraine would return and could not passively wait for liberation. Since 2017, she had been posting pro-Ukrainian leaflets and stickers on the streets of the city at night. Later, Elena did this during the day and was captured on camera. Suspecting that she was being watched, she prepared to leave but did not manage to escape. In the fall of 2018, Elena was kidnapped by terrorists. She lived alone – without parents, children, or close relatives. Before her disappearance, Elena called her friends every evening and used social media. The day after she failed to make contact, her friends raised the alarm and contacted Ukrainian law enforcement. Thanks to a UN mission, it was discovered that Elena was in captivity – terrorists had carefully concealed this fact. She was detained "on suspicion of subversive activities in favor of Ukrainian intelligence services." She was held "in the basement" of the so-called "MGB" building in Luhansk.
On October 4, 2019, the so-called court of the self-proclaimed "LPR" sentenced Elena to 13 years of imprisonment. Elena admitted only to posting leaflets. However, she was accused of being an SBU agent with the alias "Lysa," who allegedly provided information about military movements and of treason... to her homeland. Elena stated that she did not admit her guilt: "I am Ukrainian, and I did not betray my homeland – Ukraine. And I do not recognize their ’abrazovaniye’ [a term meaning ’arbitrary actions’]. They even ordered an expert examination to determine if there was extremism in it. I stood up in court and said, explain how you, in 2014, committed an act of extremism, and now you – extremists – accuse me of extremism?! This is absurd!"
At the "court hearing," Elena appeared wearing a T-shirt with a trident and the inscription "My state is Ukraine." In her cell, the T-shirt was torn, so she painted another T-shirt, which was also torn. Her cellmates noticed that Elena was making stencils and reported her to the guards. The stencils were destroyed, and Elena was thrown into another cell.
On December 29, 2019, during a prisoner exchange at the Maiorsk checkpoint, Elena Sorokina emerged from the bus wearing a sweatshirt with a trident and the inscription "My state is Ukraine." She hid it under her jacket to avoid being seen by the "LPR" terrorists.
After the exchange, Elena Sorokina lived in Kyiv for a while, trying to start her own business. However, she soon moved to Popasna to live and work closer to home.
A white reglan made of knit fabric. On the front, there is an image of the trident drawn with a blue ballpoint pen, and on the back, there is the inscription: "My state is Ukraine".