“Empty Chairs” action held in Kyiv to support missing, imprisoned, and captive journalists, writers, and cultural figures

On November 15, the "Empty Chairs" action took place on Sofia Square in Kyiv to support journalists, writers, cultural figures, and human rights defenders who have disappeared, been imprisoned, or are held captive by Russia.

Rubryka reports.

Since the late 1980s, the Day of the Imprisoned Writer, or Empty Chair Day, has been observed worldwide on November 15, following an initiative by International PEN.

Empty chairs at human rights rallies on this day have come to symbolize authors who are imprisoned, missing, killed, or those who face persecution.

In Kyiv, on this day, relatives, friends, and colleagues of the missing, imprisoned, and captured individuals gathered for the rally, sharing their stories.

The event was attended by:

• Maryna Aleksandrovych, wife of poet and designer Mykola Leonovych, who went missing in April 2023 during a combat mission near Avdiivka;
• Ivan Andrusiak, writer, poet, and translator, friend of poet Borys Humenyuk, who went missing in the battles near Klishchiivka in December 2022;
• Oleksandra Barkova, sister of Bohdan Ziza, an artist from Crimea, who was illegally sentenced to 15 years in prison by the Russian occupation authorities in Crimea in June 2023;
• Oksana Myhalevych, lawyer of journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, who was abducted by Russian military personnel in the village of Kozarovychy, Vyshgorod district, Kyiv region, approximately on March 4, 2022;
• Olena Tsygipa, wife of Serhii Tsygipa, a writer and journalist from Nova Kakhovka, whom the so-called "Supreme Court of the Republic of Crimea" sentenced to 13 years in a high-security prison;
• Oksana Stomina, Mariupol poet and public activist. Her husband, Dmytro Paskalov, one of the defenders of the Azovstal steel plant, has been in Russian captivity since May 2022.

Liudmyla Huseinova, a civic journalist and human rights defender who was in captivity from October 2019 to October 2022 and Nariman Dzhelal, a journalist and human rights defender, and former political prisoner, held by Russian occupation authorities from September 2021 to June 28, 2024, also joined the action.

Actor Roman Yasinovskyi will also serve as the ambassador of the campaign.

A symbolic installation of empty chairs, each bearing the names of imprisoned, captured, and missing authors, media workers, artists, and human rights defenders, was set up on Sofia Square in Kyiv.

According to the Institute of Mass Information, at least 30 civilian Ukrainian media workers and two combatant journalists are currently in prison.

The "Civil Liberties Center" reported that more than 7,000 civilians are currently illegally imprisoned in Russia and in temporarily occupied territories, though the real number could be much higher.

As of the end of September 2024, the Register of Missing Persons under Special Circumstances lists 55,000 individuals.

The event aims to unite the efforts of all those supporting Ukraine and advocating for the release of illegally imprisoned civilians and prisoners of war as a result of Russia's war against Ukraine.

Since 2018, the Ukrainian PEN, in collaboration with the "Civil Liberties Center," has been organizing this human rights action.

Mykola Tymchenko, photo correspondent for Rubryka, was present at the event.

Earlier, Rubryka reported that school desks were placed on the streets of Ukraine as part of the "PROTECTION" initiative. The KSE Foundation launched a fundraiser to provide shelters for educational institutions in rural areas. To raise awareness for the cause, the foundation placed school desks in open public spaces.

Нагадаємо, раніше "Рубрика" розповідала, що на вулицях України з'явилися шкільні парти. У межах ініціативи "ЗАХИСТОК", благодійний фонд KSE Foundation запустив збір на облаштування укриттів для навчальних закладів у сільській місцевості. Для привернення уваги до збору, фонд розмістив шкільні парти просто неба.