{"id":58574,"date":"2024-06-06T11:01:55","date_gmt":"2024-06-06T09:01:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ppu.gov.ua\/press-center\/lysty-do-vilnoho-krymu\/"},"modified":"2025-06-05T16:22:41","modified_gmt":"2025-06-05T14:22:41","slug":"lysty-do-vilnoho-krymu","status":"publish","type":"press-center","link":"https:\/\/ppu.gov.ua\/en\/press-center\/lysty-do-vilnoho-krymu\/","title":{"rendered":"Letters to a Free Crimea"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cLetters to Free Crimea\u201d is an initiative of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea<\/a>, PEN Ukraine<\/a> and “ZMINA” Human Rights Centre<\/a>, where people can write letters to illegally imprisoned Ukrainians who are held by the occupying administrations in the temporarily occupied Crimea or deported from the territory of the temporarily occupied Crimea to the territory of the Russian Federation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As of 30 May 2025, the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is aware of 222 Crimean political prisoners, 133 of whom are Crimean Tatars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Crimea remains in the hearts of every Crimean political prisoner, even if they are now in the northernmost part of Russia. Despite the bars that restrain the bodies of Crimean political prisoners, their souls and hearts are free. That is why these letters will go to a free Crimea, to each of the Crimean political prisoners. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The purpose of the \u201cLetters to Free Crimea\u201d initiative is to remind people about the Ukrainian prisoners of the Kremlin, to demonstrate that they are remembered and that people care about them. The large number of letters is also an important message to prison administrations that every Crimean political prisoner is remembered and will be fought for to the end. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The history of the initiative: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initiative was first launched<\/a> in 2023 and lasted from 27 April to 27 May.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the month of the campaign, the organisers received more than 350 letters for Crimean political prisoners: from relatives and friends, from sympathetic strangers, from children, from well-known figures. The letters were sent from mainland Ukraine, Poland, Sweden and Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

High-ranking officials, government representatives, as well as writers, civic activists and intellectuals joined the campaign. \u201cLetters to Free Crimea\u201d were also written<\/a> during the Gongadze Award ceremony, at the Protasiv Yar festival in memory of Roman Ratushny, and at the events \u201cMemory and Revival\u201d at the M. Hryshko National Botanical Garden. Meanwhile, in Krakow, Poland, the owners of the \u201cNytka\u201d coffee shop dedicated a whole day to the initiative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 2024<\/a>, the event became part of the Government’s action plan to mark the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the City of Sevastopol and the 10th anniversary of the temporary occupation of Crimea. The Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories also joined the circle of organisers. During that year, Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine abroad wrote more than 1,800 letters of support. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In 2025, the \u201cLetters to Free Crimea\u201d campaign expanded its circle of partners, joining non-governmental organisations such as \u201cCrimean Process\u201d<\/a>, \u201cCrimeaSOS\u201d<\/a>, and the \u201cCrimea Daily\u201d media initiative<\/a>. The year was fruitful in terms of results \u2014 the campaign was extended<\/a> until the de-occupation of Crimea and the release of the last political prisoner. The organisers also held a number of events where the location for writing letters was presented, including: a series of events called \u201cDays of Crimea\u201d in Poltava, Odesa, Dnipro, Lviv, Ostroh, Women’s Iftar in Kyiv, Sunny Bunny Film Festival, Khydyrlez Festival and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Within the initiative \u201cLetters to Free Crimea\u201d, a reading of letters from political prisoners by public figures was also organised. These concerned individuals became the voices of those who were deprived of the opportunity to express their opinions openly by the occupants. They told the stories of political prisoners from Crimea who were illegally imprisoned by the Russians for their civic position, support of their own people, and loyalty to Ukraine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2024, 27 videos<\/a> with readings of letters from political prisoners were published. The voices of Jamala, Mykola Serga, Michelle Andrade, Fagot, Fozzy, Daria Astafieva, Nariman Aliyev, Akhtem Seitablaev, Alim Aliyev, Maria Yefrosynina, Tayra, Isa Akayev, Ismail Kurt-Umer, Maryan Pyrih, Dmytro Odnorozhenko, Rory Finnin, Sasha Chemerov and others sounded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2025, already 8 people have become the voices of political prisoners \u2014 Vitalina Bibliv, Iryna Tsilyk, Hryhorii Baklanov, Kateryna Kalytko, Antonina Khyzhniak, Oleksii Erinchak, Hanna Rizatdinova and Volodymyr Yermolenko<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Useful links<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The map of the places of detention of political prisoners is a project that allows us to use geospatial tools to display the location of people who are illegally deprived of their freedom. This necessity has arisen because the occupying power, in violation of international law, transfers political prisoners from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine to its territory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The map is also a tool for the Letters to a Free Crimea initiative, which allows people to view detailed information about the person they wish to write to and see their location.<\/p>\n\n\n\n