Permanent Representative Olha Kuryshko took part in the documentary People of Freedom’s Color, where she spoke about the resistance of residents in occupied Crimea to Russian aggression and occupation. The film was produced by the creative team of the NGO Tuteshni with the support of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the International Renaissance Foundation. Filming took place from January to March 2025.

In the film, Olha Kuryshko highlights one of the most tragic stories from the early days of the occupation — the fate of Reshat Ametov, a Crimean Tatar activist who became the first civilian victim of the Russian invasion of the peninsula. He was abducted on 3 March 2014 during a solo peaceful protest in the centre of Simferopol, where he spoke out against the occupation of Crimea. Twelve days later, on 15 March, his body was found in the Bilohirsk district bearing signs of brutal torture: multiple injuries, his mouth taped shut, and his eyes gouged out. According to his brother, the fatal blow was a knife wound to the eye. Reshat Ametov’s story became a symbol of courage and nonviolent resistance to the occupation.

“One of the first decisions made by the occupation administration was the automatic recognition of all Ukrainian citizens residing in Crimea as citizens of the Russian Federation. If you are forcibly declared Russian, you are required to obtain a Russian passport, as you cannot live in the occupied territory without it. This became part of a broader strategy — the imposition of a foreign identity, the destruction of Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar resistance, and the erasure of cultural and civic space on the peninsula,” the Permanent Representative emphasizes in the film.

A separate section of the film is dedicated to the non-violent resistance of people who continue to live under occupation. According to the film’s producer and screenwriter, Chair of the Board of the NGO Tuteshni Anna Sliusarenko, the team developed a special questionnaire and distributed it through closed channels to allow residents of the occupied territories — including Donetsk, Sevastopol, and Henichesk — to share their stories of resistance.

“What struck us most was the story of a girl from Sevastopol. She has lived in occupied Crimea for over 11 years and attended school there after 2014. Yet her language is flawless Ukrainian, and every evening she reads Taras Shevchenko’s Kobzar. Moreover, she not only preserves her linguistic identity — she secretly teaches Ukrainian to anyone willing to learn. This is an incredible example of quiet, steadfast resistance,” said Anna Sliusarenko.

The film People of Freedom’s Color stands as a testament to the spirit of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars who, despite threats, persecution, and repression, continue their struggle for freedom, truth, and the liberation of Crimea from occupation.