Ukraine
The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 — which is part of the larger campaign that began in 2014 with the illegal annexation of Crimea and support to pro-Russian separatists in the Donbas region — represents an assault on free expression and human rights, an effort to destroy Ukrainian culture, and poses an imminent threat to the country’s writers, artists, and journalists.
What You Need to Know
PEN Ukraine has documented the deaths of more than 250 cultural workers and activists since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including writers, journalists, artists, and actors.
Cultural destruction is central to Russia’s strategy in its war against Ukraine, including damaging or destroying cultural infrastructure and erasing Ukrainian language in occupied areas.
While 2022 PEN/Freedom to Write Awardee and Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko was freed in June 2025, at least 26 Ukrainian journalists were held in Russian custody in occupied areas in 2025.
News
Featured Case: Vladyslav Yesypenko
Yesypenko is a Ukrainian freelance journalist whose work covers social issues affecting residents of Crimea and the profound impacts of Russian occupation on the lives of Crimean Tatars. In 2022, we honored Yesypenko with the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award.
Learn more about Yesypenko’s continued bravery at the 2022 PEN America Literary Gala.
Featured Case: Volodymr Vakulenko
In 2022, Ukrainian children’s book writer Volodymyr Vakulenko was kidnapped by Russian-affiliated forces and found killed in a mass grave in Izium. Vakulenko wrote about life in Ukraine under the occupation in a diary, which he buried before his abduction.
Learn more about Vakulenko in the 2022 Freedom to Write Index.
Ukrainian Culture Under Attack: Erasure of Ukrainian Culture in Russia’s War Against Ukraine
Widespread destruction of Ukraine’s museums, theaters and libraries, the persecution of writers and artists, and other attacks against Ukrainian heritage expose the breadth of Russia’s attempts to erase the country’s cultural identity as a tactic of war, according to a new report by PEN America and PEN Ukraine.
