WHO ARE THE PRISONERS?
Pick your prisoner in the interactive graphic below.Read more: Who are the 36 Ukrainian hostages of the Kremlin? Interactive graphic
HOW CAN I SUPPORT THE MARATHON?
First, you can organize your own event for a group of people, tell them 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 [email protected]. 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.Addresses of the hostages of the Kremlin from the LetMyPeopleGo list
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.EXAMPLES OF WRITING IN RUSSIAN
People all over the world are sending them post cards and letters as part of the holiday marathon of the #LetMyPeopleGo campaign. But there is a problem: the prison guards in Russia only deliver letters and cards written in Russian. We’re sure that they will be glad for a postcard without words. But considering that some of our readers would like to write something, we invite you to seize the opportunity and “kill two rabbits with one shot,” as we say in Ukraine – write a postcard AND study Russian! Here are some examples of greetings you can send and an explanation of their translation - from our last year's marathon.Learn to write Christmas greetings in Russian here
| Russian | Pronounciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Дорогой (…)! | Daragoi (...)! | Dear (man's name here)! |
| С Новым Годом и Рождеством! | S novym godam ee rojdestvom! | [I greet you] with New Year and Christmas! (И means and; The Russian word for Christmas, Rojdestvo means, literally, "the nativity"). |
| С Новым Годом! С Рождеством! | S novym godam! S rojdestvom! | [I greet you] with New Year! [I greet you] with Christmas! |
| Желаю тебе сил и стойкости в Новом Году! | Jelaiu tebe sil i stoikosti w Novam Gadu! | I wish you strength and perseverance in the New Year! |
| Желаем сил и радости. | Jelaiem sil i radosti. | We wish you strength and happiness. |
| Пусть благословит тебя Господь! | Pust blagaslavit tebia Gaspod! | Let God bless you! |
| Мы тебя любим и ждем! | My tebya liubim i jdiom! | We love you and are waiting for you (Мы, pronounced My, means we) |
| надеемся, что ты скоро вернешься домой! | Nadeiemsia, chto ty skora vernioshsia damoi! | We hope that soon you will return home! (Ты, pronounced ty, means you) |
| Мы надеемся, что в 2016 ты вернешься домой! | My nadeiemsia, chto v 2016 ty vernioshsia damoi! | We hope that in 2016 you will return home! |
| ждем твоего возвращения на родину! | Jdiom tvoievo vozvrascheniia na rodinu! | We await your return home! (the word na rodinu literally means to the motherland, rodit means to give birth). |
| Помним про тебя. | Pomnim pro tebia. | We remember you. |
| Думаем про тебя. | Dumaiem pro tebia. | We are thinking about you. |
| Дорогой Желаю тебе сил и стойкости в Новом Году! Мы надеемся, что в 2016 ты вернешься домой! |
| С Новым Годом! С Рождеством! Помним про тебя, ждем твоего возвращения на родину! |
| Дорогой С Новым Годом и Рождеством! Желаем сил и радости. Думаем про тебя, надеемся, что ты скоро вернешься домой! |
| Дорогой Пусть благословит тебя Господь! Мы тебя любим и ждем! С новым Годом! С Рождеством! |
- KOLCHENKO, KOSTENKO: Александр
- AFANASIEV: Геннадий
- KARPIUK: Николай
- KLYKH: Станислав
- LITVYNOV: Сергей
- DZHEMILEV: Хайсер
- SENTSOV: Олег
- CHIRNIY: Алексей
- VYHIVSKIY: Валентин
- SOLOSHENKO, PRIMOV, ILCHENKO: Юрий
- ZEITULAIEV: Руслан
- SAIFULLAIEV: Ферат
- VAITOV: Рустем
- CHYIGOZ: Ахтем
- DEGERMENDZHI: Мустафа
- ASANOV: Али
- and others - find them in the table with addresses.
The #LetMyPeopleGo campaign advocates for all Ukrainians imprisoned in Russia and occupied Crimea on political motives. Its aim is to release all the prisoners from the #LetMyPeopleGo list and controls observance of fundamental human rights, among which are freedom from torture, the right to a lawyer, the right to medical care and so on. Currently the campaign advocates for the fate of 13 prisoners in Russia and 8 prisoners in occupied Crimea.The campaign was started by Euromaidan SOS and is supported by a number of organizations in Ukraine and abroad: Centre for Civil Liberties, the Kharkiv Human Rights Group, People in Need, the “Open Dialogue” Foundation, Euromaidan Press, Euromaidan-Warsaw, the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Commissioner for Human Rights. Follow the campaign in social media: Facebook (English, Ukrainian), Twitter (English, Ukrainian), visit the site letmypeoplego.org.ua.
