Ukraine
The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine that began in February 2022 — and 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
As of July 2024, PEN Ukraine has documented the deaths of at least 117 cultural workers and activists since the beginning of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, including writers, journalists, artists, and actors.
Russia’s actions, which included damaging or destroying important cultural buildings and undermining the teaching of and in Ukrainian, now serve as a blueprint for their cultural erasure efforts in areas they have invaded and occupied.
Twenty eight media workers and citizen journalists were held in captivity in 2023 in occupied areas of Ukraine, including the 2022 PEN/Barbey Freedom To Write honoree, Vladyslav Yesypenko, who is serving a six-year sentence on false charges.
News
Individual Cases
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Volodymyr Vakulenko
Status: Custodial/Wrongful DeathA renowned writer and activist, Vakulenko had also volunteered for the Ukrainian army since 2015. He and his son went… More
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Vladyslav Yesypenko
Status: ImprisonedYesypenko, a freelance journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, was detained in March 2021 by the Russian Federal Security Services… More
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.
