Viktor Bondarenko was abducted on 7 May 2024, when he went to walk his dog Niusha. The dog was found that same day hanged by its collar on a fence (it was rescued and survived). This was already the second abduction of Bondarenko: he was abducted for the first time on 19 April 2022 and held in a "torture chamber" for 12 days, after which he was released on the condition that he report daily to the Russian security forces.

What exactly happened to Viktor Bondarenko since his detention in 2024 is unknown. According to the International Society for Human Rights, Viktor's health has significantly deteriorated during his imprisonment: he has nine intervertebral hernias, hepatitis C, high blood pressure, complains of pains in his stomach and back, has difficulty moving, has panic attacks, and deterioration of his vision and memory.

Viktor Bondarenko was charged with "illegal trafficking of explosives or explosive devices" (Article 222.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), "illegal manufacture, alteration or repair of explosives/devices" (Article 223.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), "sabotage committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy or by an organized group" (Article 281 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation), "committing an explosion, arson or other actions aimed at destroying infrastructure facilities" (Article 281 Part 2(b) of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation) and "participation in a sabotage community" (Article 281.3 Part 2 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation)

Viktor Bondarenko lived practically his whole life in Berdiansk. He completed training and became a minister of an evangelical charismatic church where he handled administrative and household tasks, travelled with church missions to penal colonies in Zaporizhzhia region, and visited hospitals to support people. For part of this time, he served as an army chaplain. After the start of the occupation of Berdiansk on 28 February 2022, he helped townspeople obtain food and medicine. After the shelling of the maternity hospital in Mariupol on 9 March 2022, Viktor began evacuating people from there; together with his son-in-law, they evacuated more than 400 people from under shelling. He was abducted for the first time on 19 April 2022 and held in a "torture chamber" for 12 days. After that abduction, Viktor and his son-in-law Oleksandr made several more trips from Berdiansk to Zaporizhzhia for humanitarian cargo: they brought medicines for the hospital, parcels passed by people from Ukraine-controlled territory to relatives under occupation, diapers, and food. After his second detention on 7 May 2024, relatives knew nothing about Viktor for three weeks. Then, on 29 May they saw a publication from ASTRA media: it said that Bondarenko had been detained in Melitopol and was accused of having blown up a sewage pumping station and power transmission line supports in 2022. Approximately five months after Viktor Bondarenko's second abduction, in September 2024, the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia announced that the case against him had been sent to court. The news was accompanied by a video in which Bondarenko pointed to a brick wall of a building and confessed to having planted "three bottles" there. He was charged with participation in a sabotage community, committing sabotage as part of a group, and illegal manufacture of explosive devices.

On 30 December 2024, the occupational "Zaporizhzhia Regional Court" found Viktor Bondarenko guilty and sentenced him to 22 years and 1 month of imprisonment in a strict-regime colony (including 2 years and 2 months in prison). On 17 April 2025, the appellate court upheld the verdict.

Memorial included Viktor Bondarenko in the list of persons subjected to criminal prosecution with high probability of political motivation and serious violation of the law, which does not mean recognition as a political prisoner.