2020 Winter letter marathon for the Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin

We are launching the traditional winter letter marathon for the Ukrainian political prisoners of the Kremlin, to give them a bit of warmth before Christmas and the New Year.

At least 87 Ukrainian citizens sentenced without a crime will meet the winter holidays behind bars in Russia and occupied Crimea. At least 175 Ukrainian citizens will spend them in the prison basements of occupied Donbas, i.e. the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk “People’s Republics.” Among them are the human rights defender Emir-Usein Kuku; Server Mustafaev, coordinator of Crimean Solidarity, the human rights NGO helping families of political prisoners in Crimea; citizen journalists Nariman Memedinov and Remzi Bekirov, Donetsk journalist Stanislav Aseiev, aviation amateur Valentyn Vyhivskyi, serviceman Andriy Kachynskyi, musician Valeriy Matiusenko, pensioner Vitaliy Atamchuk, and many others.

For them, letters from the free world are a gulp of freedom; they connect them with the outside world and offer huge moral support. Letters remind them that they are not forgotten, that people are fighting for their liberation and waiting for their release.

To make sure your letter or postcard passes the prison censors in Russia and occupied Crimea, follow these simple rules:

• write in Russian (we have a Russian-for-political-prisoner-letters crash course for you here);
• be politically neutral;
• indicate the year of birth and full name of the prisoner on the envelope.
• place blank pieces of paper, an envelope, and a Russian stamp (if you have one), if you expect an answer.

If you want to write to a person in occupied Donbas, please send the letter to the Center of Civil Liberties: 01024 Kyiv, Baseina 9-G, of.25. Even if we don’t find a way to get them into occupied Donbas, we’ll give them to the relatives of the prisoners.

Share your warmth this winter! 

Write a letter to those who are awaited at home! 

Find the full instructions for writing letters and the addresses of the prisoners are here: https://is.gd/BPTPB. Apart from a traditional paper letter/postcard, you can send an electronic letter – instructions are in the link above.

Invite your friends to join in! Make a photo of your letter and post it in social media with the hashtags #WinterMarathon #LetMyPeopleGo #PrisonersVoice

Address of the event in facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/571054123731466/