A Ukrainian citizen born in Chernihiv. Zakharenko is also charged in the case with Larisa Krupa. The women are charged with failure to report a crime (Part 2 of Article 406 of the Criminal Code) and espionage (Article 358 of the Criminal Code). The trial will be held behind closed doors.
Natalia traveled to Belarus in the second half of 2022. She helped Ukrainians who were stuck in Belarus and unable to leave the country on their own. She traveled to Belarus in her own car. Zakharenko helped evacuate approximately 30 people from Belarus.
During another trip to Belarus, the woman disappeared. She stopped communicating on July 17, 2023.
It is known that, in addition to the prison term, the court ordered the confiscation of Natalia's minibus.
Her friend, Larisa Krupa, a Belarusian from Mozyr, was fined 100 basic units (4,000 Belarusian rubles) for "failure to report a crime."
The circumstances of the charges are unknown, as are the details of the trial - the court was closed.
On May 24, 2024, the appeal was heard and the verdict came into force.
On the evening of June 28, 2024, news broke of the release of five political prisoners from Belarusian prison colonies. Ukrainian authorities secured the release of their citizens in a prisoner exchange. Natalia Zakharenko, Pavlo Kupriyenko, Lyudmila Goncharenko, Kateryna Bryukhanova, and Mykola Shvets, a defendant in the "Machulishchi case," were released. The terms of the exchange were not disclosed. The Vatican was reported to have participated in the release. The released political prisoners were brought to Ukraine on June 28; their photo from Zhulyany Airport was published in the media.
