Radio Liberty journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko released after over 4 years of Russian imprisonment in Crimea

Vladyslav Yesypenko, a journalist for Krym.Realii, a project focused on Crimea under RFE/RL’s Ukrainian service, was released on 20 June after more than four years in Russian custody and left Russian-occupied Crimea.

The report came from Radio Liberty. The media welcomed Vladyslav’s release and thanked the U.S. and Ukrainian governments for efforts to bring him home.

Radio Liberty President and CEO Stephen Capus said in a statement that Yesypenko had been subjected to torture while in Russian captivity:

"For more than four years, Vlad was arbitrarily punished for a crime he did not commit. He paid too high of a price for reporting the truth about what was taking place inside Russia-occupied Crimea. For that, he was tortured, physically and psychologically. While we celebrate his joyous reunion with his wife Kateryna, and their young daughter Stefania, we cannot overlook this family’s pain at the hands of Russian authorities. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty expresses its deep gratitude to the governments of the United States and Ukraine for working with us to prevent the continuation of Vlad's unjust imprisonment. We also thank the global community of press freedom defenders for their tireless advocacy on behalf of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's dedicated journalists."

Vladyslav Yesypenko is a freelance journalist for the Krym.Realii (a project under RFE/RL). He covered social and ecological issues in Crimea, did street surveys and made reports about life on Russia-occupied peninsula. He participated in the action timed to the birthday of Taras Shevchenko that took place in Simferopol on March 9, 2021. Yesypenko was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) on March 10, on suspicion of "collecting information for Ukrainian intelligence" and "possession and transport of explosives".

Vladyslav Yesypenko claimed that he had been tortured by the FSB detectives to extract a false confession.

On February 16, 2022, Russia-controlled Simferopol district court sentenced him to six years in prison in a closed-door trial.

During his imprisonment, Yesypenko became the recipient of a Free Media Award (2022), Freedom to Write Award from PEN America (2022), National Ihor Lubchenko Prize, and State Levko Lukyanenko Fellowship granted to Ukrainian political prisoners.