Melitopol resident Konstantin Zinovkin decided not to evacuate from the occupied city because he was caring for his elderly relatives. On 12 May 2023, he was detained on the street, after which three unknown men in balaclavas came to his home and told Zinovkin's mother that he had allegedly been detained for "violation of the regime." Then they began a search, and Zinovkin's mother was forced to write biographies of all family members, list who does what, and what contacts they have in Ukraine. After Zinovkin's disappearance, his wife Lusyena and the members of her family who remained in Melitopol did not know where he was. In mid-June, Russian security forces appeared at Zinovkin's apartment again, where they told his mother that he was suspected of "terrorism" and was being held in a detention facility in the urban settlement of Pryazovske (the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region).

In June 2023, Zinovkin's data were added to the list of "terrorists and extremists" of Rosfinmonitoring. Shortly before that, his apartment was searched again. In October of the same year, one of the state propaganda channels showed Zinovkin in a report, where the detainee was called a "zombie" and an "unhealthy person," because in detention he continued to insist that Russia is a terrorist state. Zinovkin is accused of "high treason," preparation of a "terrorist attack," "participation in a terrorist community," and "illegal trafficking of explosives." In November 2024, the criminal case against him was submitted to the Southern District Military Court (Rostov-on-Don) for consideration. In a letter from the Pre-Trial Detention Centre, Zinovkin described in detail the harsh conditions of detention.