Today, Vladyslav Yesypenko celebrates his 54th birthday in illegal detention. FSS officers detained him on March 10, 2021, in the occupied Crimea, and the occupying court sentenced him to 5 years in prison for allegedly “collecting information for Ukraine’s special services” and “possession of homemade explosives in a car”.

With this “verdict”, the occupiers once again showed that they want to imprison even the manifestations of freedom of speech because this is what Mr. Yesypenko was doing – he was a blogger and contributor to “Krym.Realii”, conducted surveys and worked on social issues. He did what is allowed in the entire civilized world, but what the occupiers do not tolerate.

For telling the truth about life under occupation, he suffered torture and death threats, denial of access to independent lawyers and forced filming of the so-called “confession” that the occupiers boasted about on their TV channels. The journalist’s wife, Kateryna Esypenko, does not miss any event supporting political prisoners whenever possible and makes every effort to ensure that her husband is home as soon as possible, alive and well. Together with Kateryna, his young daughter Stefania is also waiting for the journalist’s release.

Only the deoccupation of Crimea will guarantee the release of political prisoner Vladyslav Yesypenko. Only the liberation of the peninsula from the occupiers will bring the release of 180 more of our citizens who are illegally imprisoned only for remaining true to themselves and Ukraine! We believe and are making every effort to ensure that Vladislav and his family will soon be able to walk freely on the Crimean beaches. We know that we will definitely invite him to our home office in Simferopol, personally pay our respects and celebrate Ukraine’s victory together!