Vladyslav Yesypenko and Iryna Danylovych became members of National Union of Journalists of Ukraine

The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine (NUJU) accepted Crimean journalists Vladyslav Yesypenko and Iryna Danylovych, currently political prisoners of the Kremlin, to their community. The journalists became NUJU members with the assistance of Human Rights Centre ZMINA. 

“We have always supported people who, even risking their freedom, defend freedom of speech in occupied Crimea and exercise the right of Crimeans to know everything. Despite the temporary imprisonment of our colleagues, we believe that they will soon be released, that they will not betray their ideals, and therefore their membership in our Union will support them morally and strengthen their spirit. In addition, having joined the ranks of our Union, they will also be under the protection of the International Federation of Journalists, and this will help them and us to strengthen the foundations of freedom of speech in Crimea and to more fully implement this indispensable condition of democracy,” noted NUJU head Serhiy Tomilenko. 

“Fifteen Crimean journalists are now behind bars in the territory of Russia and Russian-occupied Crimea. Most of them are citizen journalists, ordinary citizens who covered the repression in Crimea under conditions of information isolation, pressure and the occupying power blocking any efforts to convey true information. Recognition of the role of these brave people by the professional community, granting them formal journalistic status is important in the context of the struggle for their further release,” added Tetiana Pechonchyk, head of Human Rights Centre ZMINA. 

On March 10, 2021, Russian security forces detained Vladyslav Yesypenko, a freelance journalist of RFE/RL’s Crimea.Realities project, after he attended an event on the occasion of Taras Shevchenko’s birthday, which took place in Simferopol the day before. 

Later, Russia’s FSB stated that Yesypenko had allegedly conducted “intelligence and subversive activities in the interests of the Ukrainian special services”, namely, “took photos and videos of the area, critical facilities, and places of mass stay of people” in Crimea. Yesypenko reported torture by the FSB to obtain evidence needed by the Russian special services. 

At the beginning of 2022, the so-called “Simferopol District Court” sentenced Yesypenko to six years in a general regime penal facility and a fine of RUB 110,000. The journalist was found guilty of illegal possession and transportation of an explosive device. Subsequently, the illegal “appeal court” changed the term of imprisonment to five years in a general regime penal facility. 

Iryna Danylovych is a nurse and civil society activist from Feodosia, she cooperated with the INzhyr media outlet and the Crimean Process human rights project. The woman defended the interests of medical workers on the peninsula: she joined an independent trade union, wrote a lot about violations of their rights, for example, about underpayments for work with sick patients. 

FSB officers kidnapped Iryna Danylovych on April 29 and kept her in a FSB basement until May 7 without any status or legal assistance. She was interrogated using polygraph, subjected to psychological pressure: the officers promised to take her to the forest, to Mariupol and feed her once a day. 

On December 28, 2022, the so-called “Feodosia Town Court” announced the sentence to Iryna Danylovych. She was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined RUB 50,000 for alleged “possession of explosives”. Currently, the journalist has lost hearing in her left ear due to the lack of medical care in imprisonment.