Kateryna was detained after a "solidarity raid" in late January 2024 on charges of supporting political prisoners and their families—she sent packages and made money transfers to prisoners in pretrial detention. Prior to this, she had been convicted at least twice on political administrative charges after crossing the border; it is unknown whether she lived abroad. She studied at the University of Warsaw and lived in Poland for a long time.
In the fall of 2024, Ekaterina was convicted of "assisting extremist activity" and sentenced to imprisonment in a penal colony.
On December 13, 2025, she was released following a visit to Minsk by US President Donald Trump's special representative, John Cole, and taken to Ukraine.
