Overview
- Organized by PEN Ukraine and the Center for Civil Liberties, the action on Sofiyska Square featured 70 chairs labeled with names of imprisoned Ukrainians and drew about 60 participants.
- Recently freed prisoners Yuliya Paievska, Leniye Umirova, Maksym Butkevych, Dmytro Khilyuk and Vladyslav Yesypenko attended and removed their name plaques in a symbolic gesture.
- Speakers cited Red Cross figures indicating roughly 1,700 registered cases of abductions and concealed information about Ukrainians since 2014.
- PEN Ukraine referenced a PACE resolution pressing Russia to immediately free unlawfully held Ukrainian journalists and to disclose their whereabouts and health status.
- The Institute of Mass Information reports at least 26 detained civilian media workers and one journalist-combatant, while the Ombudsperson’s office counts nearly 16,000 unlawfully detained civilians and over 70,000 people listed as missing.