Holubiev was detained at his home on the morning of 6 April 2022. His abduction was the work of the FSB. The security forces took his phone, passport, put him in handcuffs and led him away, adding that if he cooperated, he would return home. He did not return. Andrii's wife Olha tried to find her husband for several months, but after the arrest no one in Melitopol knew anything about his fate. The Russian authorities denied that Holubiev was in Russia, but at the end of April the Federal Financial Monitoring Service of Russia (Rosfinmonitoring) included Holubiev on the list of "extremists and terrorists."

After his detention, Holubiev was taken to Lefortovo prison in Moscow. His family learned of this at the end of August 2022 from reports in the Russian media. Before that, according to the media, Holubiev was held for some time in occupied Crimea, in the Pre-Trial Detention Centre in Simferopol. Then he was sent to Pre-Trial Detention Centre No. 1 of the FSIN of Russia in the Chechen Republic. While in custody, Andrii did not receive necessary medical treatment, and the lawyer hired by Ukrainian human rights defenders was not allowed to see him.

Andrii Holubiev was charged with attempting an act of international terrorism (Part 1 of Article 30, Part 1 of Article 361 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and participation in a terrorist community (Part 2 of Article 205.4 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation).

45-year-old Andrii Holubiev is a well-known kung fu instructor in Melitopol who trained children in a martial arts school. In December 2020, Holubiev went to serve under contract in a border guard unit in Kyrylivka, on the coast of the Sea of Azov. He resigned in December 2021 and returned to training children. At about the same time, he joined the reserve of the 115th battalion of the territorial defence of Melitopol. When Russian troops entered Melitopol, Holubiev decided to stay. Andrii barely left his home for more than a month after the start of the occupation of Melitopol, due to problems with his hip joints (coxarthrosis). "On 20 April they incriminated him saying they had 'solved' the case, and it was said that he was arrested on 20 April. Although in reality it happened on 6 April! That is, for 14 days they did everything to make Andrii take on the blame which a priori does not exist!" said human rights defender Natalia Yashchuk. Andrii became a defendant in the so-called "Melitopol five" case: according to prosecutors, the accused were allegedly members of the Union of Anti-Terrorist Operation Veterans of Melitopol and were planning to set off explosions at Russian troop positions and at humanitarian aid distribution sites.

On 29 April 2025, the Southern District Military Court sentenced Andrii Holubiev to 12 years of imprisonment in a strict-regime colony.

Included in the list of persons subjected to criminal prosecution with high probability of political motivation and serious violation of the law.