On February 11, the Ukraine Crisis Media Center hosted a press conference summarizing the results of the Letters to a Free Crimea initiative over the past year.
Participants in the press conference included Anna Sytnikova, Deputy Head of the Crimea Platform Department; Leniie Umerova, Crimean Tatar activist and recently released political prisoner; Larysa Denysenko, Ukrainian writer, lawyer, and public ambassador for Remzi Bekirov; and Viktoriia Nesterenko, project manager at the ZMINA Human Rights Center. The discussion was moderated by Yevhen Bondarenko, Head of the Information Department of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
The Letters to a Free Crimea initiative, launched in May 2023, has become one of the few channels of communication with political prisoners in temporarily occupied Crimea and in Russia. Sending letters to political prisoners is not only an act of support but also a signal to prison administrations that the world is watching and cares about the Kremlin’s captives. A high volume of letters serves as a deterrent against unchecked abuse, as any violations will be brought to the attention of the international community. The initiative was organized by the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, PEN Ukraine, and the ZMINA Human Rights Center.
Anna Sytnikova, Deputy Head of the Crimea Platform Department, announced that the Letters to a Free Crimea campaign will now be ongoing, ensuring that support for political prisoners and their families is not limited by time. This decision reflects the need not only to express solidarity but also to engage in a sustained fight for their release.
“The Letters to Free a Crimea initiative provides an opportunity to support political prisoners and their families, reaffirming that they are not alone and that the Ukrainian state—both governmental institutions and civil society organizations—is fighting for their release. That is why, this year, we decided to make the initiative indefinite, as our support and involvement are constantly needed by everyone who is currently forced to serve an unlawful sentence in Russian prisons for their pro-Ukrainian stance,” she stated.
Crimean Tatar activist Leniie Umerova, who spent 1.9 years in unlawful detention in Russia, emphasized that letters to political prisoners serve as a tool of influence over prison administrations. Beyond that, each letter becomes a source of strength for those behind bars while also generating public attention that keeps their names in the spotlight.
Over the past year, the Letters to Free a Crimea initiative has been featured in at least 25 public events in Ukraine and abroad. The campaign has also been integrated into other events to engage a broader audience in supporting Crimean political prisoners.
“Over the past year, together with the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and PEN Ukraine, we have organized the initiative at 25 public events across Ukraine, including festivals, book fairs, and street exhibitions. The campaign has also been held multiple times abroad at various forums and conferences in Berlin, Prague, Warsaw, and other cities. After collecting the letters, we sort, scan, and digitize them before passing them on to relatives, lawyers, and human rights defenders from Crimea, who then, whenever possible, deliver them to the intended recipients,” said Viktoriia Nesterenko, project manager at the ZMINA Human Rights Center.
However, alongside the expansion of the initiative, repressive pressure on residents of occupied Crimea is also intensifying. The number of persecutions increases each year, particularly in cases of women being unlawfully imprisoned on fabricated charges of “state treason.” As Viktoriia Nesterenko noted, the Russians recently sentenced Oksana Senezhuk to 15 years in prison, a decision that is part of a broader campaign of political repression. At the same time, restrictions on freedom of speech are escalating—19 Ukrainian journalists are currently being unlawfully held in prisons both in occupied Crimea and in Russia.
Ukrainian writer Larysa Denysenko emphasized that when a person is imprisoned for political persecution as a result of the arbitrary actions of an aggressor state, it is critically important for them to know that their name continues to be spoken, that they remain part of a society that remembers and supports them.
“When a person is imprisoned—unjustly, by an aggressor—it is vital for them to know that their name is spoken in the public space, among communities, among people, in their homeland. That their name serves as a beacon, a compass, a point of reference. That they are held in our hearts and by the hand, even from a distance. We are all part of a shared nerve of justice. Every letter is a connection to home. We write in Russian because of the enemy censors. We write with care, because rule number one is: do no harm but support,” emphasized Larysa Denysenko.