As part of the Letters to a Free Crimea initiative, Rory Finnin read the letter of journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko, who was illegally detained by the Russian Federal Security Service in occupied Crimea in March 2021. The Russians accused him of allegedly collecting information “for Ukraine’s special services” and of keeping an “improvised explosive device” in his car. Vladyslav was in Simferopol, occupied Crimea, at the time to participate in a demonstration dedicated to Taras Shevchenko’s birthday.

Rory Finnin is a literary scholar, Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge, and author of Blood of Others: Stalin’s Crimean Atrocity and the Poetics of Solidarity. Today, the voice of a scholar is Vladyslav Yesypenko, who suffered under the occupation regime for not being afraid to reveal the truth about the crimes of the occupiers.

Currently, Vladyslav Yesypenko is being illegally imprisoned in Kerch Penal Colony No. 2.

You have the opportunity to write words of support to Vladyslav Yesypenko and other captives of the Kremlin who have been illegally imprisoned for their pro-Ukrainian position and resistance to the Russian occupation of Crimea.

Join the Letters to a Free Crimea initiative. Write a letter, tell your friends and colleagues about the campaign, and share the information on social media. These simple steps will help our fellow citizens feel that we continue to fight for their freedom, despite the obstacles.

The resistance continues!