On February 26, marking the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol, representatives of the Delegation of the European Union to Ukraine, the Embassy of the Republic of Austria, the Embassy of the Republic of Bulgaria, the Embassy of Canada to Ukraine, the Embassy of the Czech Republic, the Embassy of the French Republic, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland, the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia, the Embassy of the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Embassy of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland joined the Letters to Free Crimea initiative. They wrote letters to unlawfully imprisoned Ukrainian citizens.

The initiative aims to support political prisoners and their families while drawing the attention of the Ukrainian and international communities to the unlawful imprisonment of Ukrainian citizens. Additionally, this project serves as a message to prison administrations, emphasizing that every unlawfully detained Ukrainian remains in the spotlight for both the state and civil society.

Currently, the Russian Federation unlawfully detains 221 Crimean political prisoners on fabricated charges, 137 of whom are Crimean Tatars. The occupation of Crimea has lasted for 11 years, accompanied by continuous and systematic human rights violations, including persecution, arbitrary arrests, abductions, and torture of activists, independent journalists, and representatives of civil society.

The Czech Republic and other partner countries of Ukraine have reiterated their call for the immediate release of all political prisoners, reaffirming their unwavering support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity while emphasizing their non-recognition of Russia’s unlawful attempt to establish control over Crimea and other temporarily occupied territory of Ukraine.

We express our sincere gratitude to international partners for their steadfast position, support for Ukrainian political prisoners, and active participation in the fight for human rights on the temporarily occupied territory.

Letters to Free Crimea is a joint initiative of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, PEN Ukraine, the ZMINA Human Rights Center, the Crimea SOS NGO, the Crimean Process NGO, and the Crimea Daily media initiative. This project allows anyone to express their support for Ukrainian political prisoners unlawfully held by the occupying forces in Crimea or transferred to prisons in the Russian Federation.