THE NATIONAL UNION OF
JOURNALISTS OF UKRAINE
Ukrainian journalists use many forms and means to support repressed colleagues in Crimea. Among them is the initiative Letters to a Free Crimea, within the framework of which the other day, journalist and political commentator, columnist for the website Krym.Realii publicly read a letter from Vladlen Abdulkadyrov, a figure in the ‘Crimean Muslims case’. This was reported by the Representation of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.
Vladlen Abdulkadyrov was illegally sentenced by the russian authorities to 12 years of imprisonment in a maximum-security colony for “terrorist activities.”
“Currently, the Crimean activist is in Correctional Colony 21 in the village of Iksa, Arkhangelsk Oblast of the russian federation. Vladlen‘s health is rapidly deteriorating: due to the poor quality of nutrition, the political prisoner has problems with his liver and kidneys, his eyesight has deteriorated,” the report says.
Vladlen Abdulkadyrov addressed his colleagues in Ukraine in a letter: “I am writing to you from the Arkhangelsk Oblast. In the summer of 2024, I was transferred here from the Lipetsk Oblast. I am grateful to all of you for spending your precious time supporting those who are unjustly convicted and are undergoing a life test under the guise of imprisonment,” the Crimean writes.
As is known, the Letters to a Free Crimea campaign began in April 2023 in Ukraine. Its goal is to remind people of the Ukrainian prisoners of the Kremlin, as well as to demonstrate and express words of support to them. In addition, the letters serve as a reminder to the administrations of russian prisons that every citizen of Ukraine is important, and society closely monitors the conditions of their detention.
Letters to a Free Crimea is an initiative of the Representation of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, public organizations PEN Ukraine, Human Rights Center ZMINA within which people write letters to illegally imprisoned Ukrainians who are held by the occupation administrations in the occupied Crimea or those deported from the territory of the occupied Crimea to the territory of the russian federation. As of May 30, 2025, the Representation of the President of Ukraine in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea is aware of 222 Crimean political prisoners, 133 of whom are Crimean Tatars. Crimea remains in the heart of every Crimean political prisoner, even if he is currently in the northernmost point of russia. Despite the bars that restrain the bodies of Crimean political prisoners, their souls and hearts are free.
This action was first initiated in 2023 and lasted from April 27 to May 27. During the campaign month, the organizers received over 350 letters for Crimean political prisoners, including those from relatives and friends, caring strangers, children, and famous figures. The letters were sent from mainland Ukraine, Poland, Sweden, and Thailand.
The campaign was joined by high-ranking officials, government representatives, as well as writers, public activists, and intellectuals. Letters to the free-hearted Crimeans were also written during the Gongadze Prize presentation, at the Roman Ratushnyi Memorial Festival in Protasiv Yar, and the Memory and Revival events at the Hryshko National Botanical Garden. In Poland, in the city of Krakow, the owners of the Nytka coffee shop dedicated a whole day to the initiative.
In 2024, the campaign became part of the Government Action Plan for 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 for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories also joined the circle of organizers. This year, Ukrainians and their friends abroad wrote more than 1,800 letters of support.
In 2025, the Letters to a Free Crimea campaign expanded its circle of organizing partners, with the initiative joined by public organizations Crimean Process, CrimeaSOS, and the media initiative Crimea Daily. The year was fruitful in terms of results – the campaign was continued until the de-occupation of Crimea and the release of the last political prisoner. The organizers also held a number of events, including the Days of Crimea series of events in Poltava, Odesa, Dnipro, Lviv, and Ostroh, as well as the Women’s Iftar in Kyiv, the Sunny Bunny film festival, and the Khydyrlez festival, among others.
As part of the Letters to a Free Crimea campaign, famous people also read letters from political prisoners. Concerned people became the voices of those from whom the occupiers took away the opportunity to openly express their opinions. They told the stories of political prisoners from Crimea, who were illegally imprisoned by the russians for their civic position, for supporting their own people, and loyalty to Ukraine.
In 2024, a total of 27 video recordings were published with readings of letters from political prisoners. The voices were those of Jamala, Mykola Sierha, Michelle Andrade, Fagot, Fozzi, Dariya Astafiyeva, Nariman Aliyev, Akhtem Seitablayev, Alim Aliyev, Maria Efrosynina, Taira, Isa Akayev, Ismail Kurt-Umer, Maryana Piroha, Dmitry Odnorozhenko, Rory Finin, Sasha Chemerov, and others.
In 2025, 8 people have already become the voices of political prisoners — Vitalina Bibliv, Iryna Tsilyk, Hryhoriy Baklanov, Kateryna Kalytko, Antonina Khyzhnyak, Oleksiy Erinchak, Hanna Rizatdinova, and Volodymyr Yermolenko.
“Sister, know that we are fighting for you!” Ukrainian journalist of the website Krym.Realii Vladyslav Yesypenko wrote in a letter to a Crimean woman, Halyna Dovhopola, who became a symbol of the struggle for freedom.
The russian federation holds about 17 Crimeans and Ukrainian activists over 60 years old in places of imprisonment.
“I am sure that Halyna Dovhopola, imprisoned in occupied Crimea for political reasons, has not been forgotten in Ukraine,” says journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko.
NUJU Information Service
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