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Release Ukrainian POWs Denys Matsola, Vladyslav Zhuravlev and other Mariupol defenders
Solidarity C.
started this petition to
World leaders and their diplomatic missions
On April 4, 2022, Denys Matsola, a human rights advocate, publicist, civil society activist, political scientist, and displaced person from Crimea, was captured by Russian forces.
After the full-scale invasion, Denys participated in the defense of Mariupol as part of the 501st Separate Marine Battalion of the 36th Brigade of the Ukrainian Navy, whose soldiers were surrounded and taken captive at the beginning of April 2022. Denys decided to join the military in 2021, after learning that Russia had assembled a troop group near the borders of Ukraine. He was invited to the 501st Battalion by his friend Vladyslav Zhuravlev, who had served there since 2017 and is now in captivity, where he has been subjected to severe torture.
During these three years, Denys’s friends, close ones, and colleagues did not publicize that he was in captivity, fearing that it would harm the exchange process. But he has been in inhuman conditions for too long, so we decided to announce this publicly. Denys is being held in pretrial detention center SIZO No. 2 in the city of Kineshma, Ivanovo region. As known from released captives who were there, since April 2023, he has been continuously kept in solitary confinement for nearly two years. In 2024, the jailers deliberately starved him – they barely fed him for three months.
We fear that such conditions may irreparably affect Denys’s mental health and physical state. In our opinion, the torture and harsh treatment of Denys is connected with his consistent pro-Ukrainian stance, as well as his long-standing activism and human rights activities for the future of Ukraine. Russian intelligence services know that Denys Matsola is from Crimea and a participant in protests against the occupation of Crimea, and this may cause biased treatment and cruelty towards him.
We realize that calling on a state like the Russian Federation to respect human rights, especially regarding Ukrainian prisoners of war, is futile. At the same time, we are convinced that international organizations, the governments of other countries, and the Ukrainian authorities must do more to stop the torture and rescue war prisoners on the territory of the aggressor country.
We are asking
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and all representatives of the state apparatus involved in the exchange process
International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
World leaders and their diplomatic missions
What are Denys Matsola and Vladyslav Zhuravlev known for?
Denys Matsola was born and lived in Simferopol before the occupation of Crimea. While studying at Tauride University, he turned to public activities. He was one of the founders and leaders of the independent trade union “Student Action”, took an active part in campaigns against illegal construction and environmental destruction, and supported the Crimean Tatar national movement. At the end of 2013, he joined the organization of several initiatives in support of the Crimean Maidan, which later transformed into a movement of resistance to the Russian occupation of the peninsula. He helped the Ukrainian military in the units blocked by the “little green men” (Russian invaders).
In 2015, he moved to Kyiv, where he worked as a journalist in the information projects of the East SOS (east-sos.org/en) charitable foundation. He covered the situation in Donbas.
In 2016, Denys moved to Lviv, where he joined the local civil society. There, he met and became close friends with Vladyslav Zhuravlev, nicknamed “Iskra” from the city of Pivdennoukrainsk, Mykolaiv region, who at the same time entered the Law College of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. Denys and Vladyslav jointly participated in protests against the illegal construction of the historic center of Lviv, self-education, and sports projects. They also helped the Ukrainian military as volunteers and joined a campaign in support of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia, including film director Oleh Sentsov and anarchist Oleksandr Kolchenko, who is a close friend of Denys Matsola.
In 2017, Denys Matsola gets a job at the Right to Protection organization to help other internally displaced people (IDPs), and regularly publishes on the Krym.Realii website (a project of Radio Liberty), covering life on the Russian-occupied peninsula. In 2021, when Russia assembled an offensive group of troops near Ukraine’s border, Denys decided to join the army and joined the 501st Marine Battalion, where his friend “Iskra” has been serving for five years. They met the full-scale invasion near Mariupol. In March 2022, the Ukrainian military were surrounded and defended the city until they were captured.
After the full-scale invasion, Denys participated in the defense of Mariupol as part of the 501st Separate Marine Battalion of the 36th Brigade of the Ukrainian Navy, whose soldiers were surrounded and taken captive at the beginning of April 2022. Denys decided to join the military in 2021, after learning that Russia had assembled a troop group near the borders of Ukraine. He was invited to the 501st Battalion by his friend Vladyslav Zhuravlev, who had served there since 2017 and is now in captivity, where he has been subjected to severe torture.
During these three years, Denys’s friends, close ones, and colleagues did not publicize that he was in captivity, fearing that it would harm the exchange process. But he has been in inhuman conditions for too long, so we decided to announce this publicly. Denys is being held in pretrial detention center SIZO No. 2 in the city of Kineshma, Ivanovo region. As known from released captives who were there, since April 2023, he has been continuously kept in solitary confinement for nearly two years. In 2024, the jailers deliberately starved him – they barely fed him for three months.
We fear that such conditions may irreparably affect Denys’s mental health and physical state. In our opinion, the torture and harsh treatment of Denys is connected with his consistent pro-Ukrainian stance, as well as his long-standing activism and human rights activities for the future of Ukraine. Russian intelligence services know that Denys Matsola is from Crimea and a participant in protests against the occupation of Crimea, and this may cause biased treatment and cruelty towards him.
We realize that calling on a state like the Russian Federation to respect human rights, especially regarding Ukrainian prisoners of war, is futile. At the same time, we are convinced that international organizations, the governments of other countries, and the Ukrainian authorities must do more to stop the torture and rescue war prisoners on the territory of the aggressor country.
We are asking
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights, and all representatives of the state apparatus involved in the exchange process
- Make every effort to release Denys Matsola, Vladyslav Zhuravlev and other Mariupol defenders who have been held in Russian torture chambers for more than two years. The Ukrainian state has to save the most valuable thing: the lives of our defenders.
International Committee of the Red Cross and the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances
- Use their powers to rescue Denys Matsola and Vladyslav Zhuravlev;
- In communication with the Russian authorities, demand compliance with the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war, an end to torture of Denys, Vladyslav, and other Ukrainian prisoners of war, and ensuring that they are treated with human dignity and appropriate conditions of detention.
World leaders and their diplomatic missions
- Assist the Ukrainian authorities in the return home of Denys Matsola, Vladyslav Zhuravlev, and other prisoners of war;
- In communication with the Russian side, demand that they stop torturing Matsola and Zhuravlev and comply with international law on the detention of prisoners of war.
What are Denys Matsola and Vladyslav Zhuravlev known for?
Denys Matsola was born and lived in Simferopol before the occupation of Crimea. While studying at Tauride University, he turned to public activities. He was one of the founders and leaders of the independent trade union “Student Action”, took an active part in campaigns against illegal construction and environmental destruction, and supported the Crimean Tatar national movement. At the end of 2013, he joined the organization of several initiatives in support of the Crimean Maidan, which later transformed into a movement of resistance to the Russian occupation of the peninsula. He helped the Ukrainian military in the units blocked by the “little green men” (Russian invaders).
In 2015, he moved to Kyiv, where he worked as a journalist in the information projects of the East SOS (east-sos.org/en) charitable foundation. He covered the situation in Donbas.
In 2016, Denys moved to Lviv, where he joined the local civil society. There, he met and became close friends with Vladyslav Zhuravlev, nicknamed “Iskra” from the city of Pivdennoukrainsk, Mykolaiv region, who at the same time entered the Law College of Ivan Franko National University of Lviv. Denys and Vladyslav jointly participated in protests against the illegal construction of the historic center of Lviv, self-education, and sports projects. They also helped the Ukrainian military as volunteers and joined a campaign in support of Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia, including film director Oleh Sentsov and anarchist Oleksandr Kolchenko, who is a close friend of Denys Matsola.
In 2017, Denys Matsola gets a job at the Right to Protection organization to help other internally displaced people (IDPs), and regularly publishes on the Krym.Realii website (a project of Radio Liberty), covering life on the Russian-occupied peninsula. In 2021, when Russia assembled an offensive group of troops near Ukraine’s border, Denys decided to join the army and joined the 501st Marine Battalion, where his friend “Iskra” has been serving for five years. They met the full-scale invasion near Mariupol. In March 2022, the Ukrainian military were surrounded and defended the city until they were captured.
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