Political prisoners of the Kremlin: what happens to Ukrainians whom russia keeps behind bars?

On January 12, at 13 p.m., Ukraine 5AM Coalition invites media representatives to the press conference “Political prisoners of the Kremlin: what happens to Ukrainians whom russia keeps behind bars?“. The event will be held at the Ukraine-Ukrinform Media Centre (8/16 B. Khmelnytskoho St., Kyiv).

Extracting “confessions” through brutal torture, planting explosives or banned literature on activists, sentencing to terms of up to 20 years, transferring to prisons in the Chelyabinsk region and Krasnoyarsk region – this is how russia fights anyone in Crimea who expresses the slightest disagreement with the policies of the occupiers. 

January 12 is the Day of the Ukrainian Political Prisoner, which was initiated in 1975 by Viacheslav Chornovil to oppose the repression and brutality of the Soviet regime. Almost 50 years later, russia is doing the same to Ukrainians who openly express their views, turning it into a criminal offense.

During the event, experts will talk about how the practice of persecution for political reasons changed in Crimea, Donbas, and later — in the territories occupied after February 24, 2022.

Access to prisoners is often closed or very limited, they do not receive adequate medical care, and they are kept in terrible conditions. This leads to the exacerbation of diseases, and two people even died as a result of the lack of medical assistance behind bars.

Nowadays, Ukraine is looking for ways to liberate Ukrainians, working with the international community both at the official level and in the field of media campaigns. Participants of campaigns and initiatives will explain how this will help to bring people back home. 

Speakers: 

• Olha Skrypnyk – head of the Board of the Crimean Human Rights Group
• Yevhenii Yaroshenko – analyst of NGO “CrimeaSOS”
• Khrystyna Shkudor – advocacy manager of the “Where Are Our People?” initiative, PR Army NGO

Additional Information:

Olena Zadorozhna, +38 097 9155445, coalition5am@gmail.com
The event is held within the framework of the cooperation of the Ukraine 5AM Coalition with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands.

Ukraine 5AM Coalition started working on February 25, 2022, the day after the start of the full-scale invasion of the russian federation into Ukraine. Today, the Coalition unites 37 non-governmental organizations and four individual experts. They united their efforts to systematically document war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the russian armed aggression against Ukraine. The Coalition is also engaged in the protection of victims of the russian-Ukrainian war through the existing state and international mechanisms of justice. All this is aimed at achieving justice by bringing the ruling elite of the russian federation to justice for committing the crime of aggression against Ukraine.