Olena Tsyhipa, wife of russian civilian prisoner Serhii Tsyhipa: “We cannot live, wake up, breathe peacefully with thoughts of our relatives in captivity”

School teacher Olena Tsyhipa from the currently occupied city of Nova Kakhovka, Kherson Region, has been fighting for her husband, journalist and public activist Serhii Tsyhipa, for two years and 10 months. He has been behind russian bars for so long. He was thrown into for Ukrainian patriotism, formally accused of a “crime” against the occupiers under Article 276 of the criminal code of the russian federation – “espionage.” Serhii is now 63 years old. He is morally holding on in a colony, and Olena is holding on for his sake at liberty. And she is doing everything she can to release him as soon as possible.

Serhii Tsyhipa is a reserve major; from 2015 to 2017, he served in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU). That is, in addition to journalistic and writing experience, he also had military experience. Obviously, this tempered and still maintains his strength of spirit.

Serhii‘s media activity was very soon noticed by the occupiers because he wrote 3-5 publications a day. He regularly used content that was sent to him and Olena by Facebook and Telegram readers, in particular, videos, photos, where and how many soldiers traveled, what equipment, etc. This could not but arouse suspicion in the russians. And the last straw for them was the anti-russian rally held in the city on March 6 with the active participation of Tsyhipa. Thousands of people took to the streets with Ukrainian flags, Ukrainian songs, and Ukrainian slogans.

The world must know about russian war crimes against civilians

Olena Tsyhipa and her son left Nova Kakhovka a long time ago and now live in Kyiv. Serhii‘s other closest relatives were also forced to leave their native, but now extremely dangerous city for them. For Olena, the best cities in Europe have now been opened up to her through her advocacy work, but her heart yearns for home…

Starting in the fall of 2022, she, together with her Ukrainian sisters, whose loved ones were also kidnapped by the occupiers and thrown into russian prisons, went on advocacy tours in Warsaw, Milan, Strasbourg, Frankfurt am Main, again in Strasbourg, Geneva, Berlin, Hamburg. Everywhere, the activists were received at the highest levels. They also held public human rights and cultural events.

Created within the framework of the project titled Raising Awareness of Target Groups in Ukraine and Abroad about Russian War Crimes against Journalists in 2024 and Strengthening Public Pressure for the Release of Imprisoned Journalists, which is implemented by the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine with the support of the Swedish non-profit human rights organization Civil Rights Defenders.