The one-and-a-half-year-old daughter of Alexandra Strilets, a Crimean woman convicted by Russia of treason a year ago, has died, the independent Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta reported.
The girl, Lera, was born prematurely in March 2025, at 27 weeks and weighing 530 grams (1 pound 3 ounces). Her mother said she was diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia immediately after birth and placed in intensive care.
Lera’s father told Novaya Gazeta that she had been discharged home the day before, and that he had set up “a full-fledged room for a palliative care patient” for her. By morning, she had died.
A court in Sevastopol sentenced Strilets, 24, to 12 years in prison on treason charges in August 2025. Her mother, Viktoria, was sentenced to the same term. Prosecutors said Alexandra “decided to engage in confidential cooperation with representatives of Ukraine against the security of the Russian Federation in exchange for payment” and recruited her mother, who photographed Russian military facilities.
The court declined to postpone enforcement of the sentence, even though Strilets had two children — an older daughter born in 2020 and Lera, born in March 2025.
The human rights group Memorial has designated Alexandra Strilets and her mother, Viktoria, as political prisoners.
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