The “Letters to Free Crimea” initiative will continue until the peninsula is deoccupied.

The initiative "Letters to Free Crimea" will continue until the de-occupation of the peninsula and the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners.

This was announced by the head of the information support department of the President of Ukraine's Representation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Evgeny Bondarenko, during a press conference at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center.

He reminded that the campaign began in April 2023 as part of the preparations for the tenth anniversary of resistance to the occupation.

"Today we declare that the campaign 'Letters to Free Crimea' will continue until the de-occupation of Crimea and the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners,” Bondarenko stated.

Last year, the initiative collected over 1,800 letters for Ukrainians – prisoners of the Kremlin. These were gathered both online and during various events, clarified Anna Sitnikova, the deputy head of the Crimean Platform Support Service. In total, there were 25 such public events in 2024: book forums, press tours, and meetings in different cities.

"During our press tour, we collected approximately 700 letters across five cities. The most letters were written in Ivano-Frankivsk,” shared Victoria Nesterenco, a project manager at the ZMINA Human Rights Center.

Another participant of the press conference, Crimean Tatar activist and former political prisoner Leniye Umerova, emphasized the importance of receiving letters in prison.

"It’s just constant pressure, interrogations, oppression of you as a person. You don’t know what’s happening behind bars, whether your country exists, whether your loved ones are safe. Receiving these letters lets you know that there are people out there who support you,” she stressed, calling for letters to be sent to Bohdan Zizya, Iryna Danilovych, Halyna Dovhopoloy, and other political prisoners.

The ambassador for political prisoner, civic journalist Remzi Bekirov, Larisa Denisenko, noted that letters are a symbol of unity and the struggle for freedom. She reminded that Bekirov has been placed in solitary confinement seven times over the past six months on fabricated charges.

"For performing a prayer, for not greeting perhaps one of the guards, for not wearing a hat. The Russian prison system does everything to make people forget that they have dignity. And each letter is a reminder that they are not alone,” she emphasized.

It is worth noting that the "Letters to Free Crimea" campaign, which allows people to write to Kremlin prisoners, started in February 2024 – just before the commemoration of three tragic dates in Ukraine's history: the tenth anniversary of Russia's war against Ukraine, the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion, and the Day of Resistance to the Occupation of Crimea.

The organizers of the human rights initiative are the President of Ukraine's Representation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, Ukrainian PEN, the ZMINA Human Rights Center, and the Ministry for Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine. They called for letters to be sent to Kremlin prisoners, as they are imprisoned for their pro-Ukrainian stance, active resistance to Russian occupation, and the fight for a free Crimea. Often, affected citizens of Ukraine are held in inhumane conditions, where they are even denied medical assistance, leading to deaths.