The initiative Euromaidan SOS and its partners within the campaign LetMyPeopleGo have launched the New Year’s Marathon of Letters to the Ukrainian prisoners, who are persecuted on political grounds in Russia and occupied Crimea.

Some of them first and others for the second or even third time will spend New Year’s holidays behind the cold walls of Russian prisons. Thus we have initiated the New Year’s Marathon of Letters to give these people a little cordiality on the eve of Christmas and the New Year. Letters from the outside mean for them a gulp of freedom, a link to the external world and a great moral support. The letters will show them once more that they are not forgotten and that people are struggling for their release and waiting for them at liberty.

The Marathon has started at the Kyiv Cadet Corps on Dec. 21 when the students were able to write and send their New Year’s and Christmas greetings to the Ukrainian political prisoners.

If you know that you’re not alone in this hard-set, if you know that the people are with you and they would always lend the shoulder, then you can perform truly heroic deeds.

Former Kremlin’s hostage Hennadii Afanasiev to Ukrainian cadets, explaining the importance of supporting those in Russian captivity and their families

HOW CAN I SUPPORT THE MARATHON?

First, you can organize your own event for a group of people, tell your companions about the Ukrainian Kremlin’s hostages and sign postcards to them together.

Second, we invite you to write and send by yourself a letter to a political prisoner. We would be particularly grateful if you send us the photos of your letters either via Facebook or at lmpg.ukraine@gmail.com. In this way, given that the Russian prison authorities block certain letters, the relatives of the inmates will have a clear proof that people are thinking of their dearest ones and dreaming of their release.

📨 INSTRUCTIONS FOR WRITING TO THE POLITICAL PRISONERS:

▪️ Letters are to be written in Russian;
▪️ The text must be politically neutral;
▪️ It is important to indicate the addressee’s year of birth and full name (first + middle + last) on the envelope;
▪️ If you want a prisoner to reply, add a blank sheet of paper and a new envelope to your letter. Even if you do not expect a response, it is still worth doing as the paper and envelopes are in short supply behind bars and are highly appreciated by the prisoners.

…Thank you for the letter. Receiving letters cheers you up and gets you morally distracted from melancholy, sadness, and pain… All the best and, God willing, see you one day.

From the response of Ferat Sayfullaev, a Crimean Muslim activist and father of three, who was unlawfully sentenced to five years in Russian jail

WE ARE STRONGER THAN KREMLIN’S PRISON BARS!

Follow the updates on the Facebook pages of the campaign LetMyPeopleGo and the New Year’s Marathon of Letters.

Contact: Palina Brodik, project coordinator, Center for Civil Liberties, tel. +380 91-985-5353, lmpg.ukraine@gmail.com
Marathon has been supported by the Ukrainian National News Agency Ukrinform, the information platform Euromaidan Press and the initiative Slova Svobody (Words of Freedom).