Ukrainian Political Prisoner Day Marks Decades of Struggle
Date: 2024-01-13 Author: Dima Zakharov Categories: COMMUNITY
The chosen date, January 12, holds historical significance, as it marks the anniversary of the 1972 Soviet crackdown, where Ukrainian dissidents advocating for independence were mass-arrested. Among those detained were prominent figures like Vyacheslav Chornovil, Ivan Svitlychny, and Vasyl Stus, who faced imprisonment and exile for their anti-Soviet activities.
Today, Russia echoes Soviet methods in suppressing dissent. Since the onset of Russian aggression against Ukraine in 2014, the occupied territories have witnessed a true terror against Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars. Putin's regime, along with collaborators in the temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories, instills fear by arresting activists and human rights defenders.
Following the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Russians continue to persecute Ukrainians in the seized territories, committing war crimes and violating human rights. As reported by the Permanent Representative of the President in Crimea, Tamila Tasheva, the number of political prisoners in the temporarily occupied peninsula is on the rise. As of October 2023, the occupying regime illegally detained at least 186 Ukrainian citizens, with approximately 123 of them being Crimean Tatars.
Simultaneously, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center reports that Russian colonies, as of the end of December, hold 150 political prisoners from the temporarily occupied Crimea. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, at least 78 Crimean political prisoners have been condemned, with a cumulative sentence exceeding 915 years of politically motivated persecution in Crimea.
