By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
WASHINGTON/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukrainian Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko has been freed after four years in Russian custody “in occupied Crimea,” the U.S.-backed network said.
RFE/RL President and CEO Stephen Capus said Sunday that after “more than four years, Vlad was arbitrarily punished for a crime he did not commit. He paid too high a price for reporting the truth about what was taking place inside Russia-occupied Crimea. For that, he was tortured, physically and psychologically.”
Capus stressed, “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.”
His release follows the release of former RFE/RL journalist Ihar Karnei on June 21 and RFE/RL journalist Andrei Kuznechyk in February, “from unjust detention in Belarus thanks to the significant efforts of the Trump administration,” RFE/RL said.
Vladyslav Yesypenko, a Ukrainian citizen and journalist who contributed to Crimea. Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service, was detained by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in Simferopol on March 10, 2021, on suspicion of “collecting information for Ukrainian intelligence.”
Yesypenko left Crimea for mainland Ukraine with his family following the 2014 Russian annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula. He returned periodically to report for RFE/RL on the social and environmental situation on the peninsula, officials said.
OCCUPIED CRIMEA
On July 15, 2021, he was charged with “possession and transport of explosives,” a charge he steadfastly denies.
Months later, on February 16, 2022, a Russian judge in occupied Crimea sentenced him to six years in prison in a closed-door trial. “Prosecutors have since admitted that a grenade “found” in Vladyslav’s vehicle did not have his fingerprints on it, according to sources observing the trial,” RFE/RL recalled.
On August 18, 2022, the Moscow-controlled Supreme Court of Crimea shortened his prison term to five years.
During his trial, the journalist said he was tortured with electric shocks to extract a false confession. Recalling the torture, he said: “My eyes hurt and my brain almost boiled…I was ready to sign anything or tell them anything.”
In November 2022, a Ukrainian prosecutor launched criminal proceedings against a Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) officer for “unlawful detention and torture.”
Later in September 2023, the European Union announced sanctions on six individuals, including two judges and one prosecutor who took part in “the politically motivated proceedings against Vladyslav,” RFE/RL said. Additionally, two FSB officers “who are responsible for torturing the journalist” were charged, added the broadcaster.
SEVERAL AWARDS
Vladyslav Yesypenko has been recognized for “his courageous and incisive journalism. He is the recipient of a Free Media Award from the Fritt Ord Foundation and ZEIT-Stiftung for his reporting in Crimea following its illegal annexation by Russia,” RFE/RL added.
In 2022, he received the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award, which his wife, Kateryna, and his young daughter, Stefania, accepted.
“RFE/RL extends its deepest gratitude to the U.S. and Ukrainian governments for working with us to ensure that Vlad’s unjust detention was not prolonged. We also thank the global press freedom community for their tireless advocacy on behalf of RFE/RL’s dedicated journalists,” the network added
Ukrainian and international civil society groups such as Amnesty International, the Committee to Protect Journalists, the Crimean Human Rights Group, Human Rights Watch, PEN America, and Reporters Without Borders, along with U.S. and Ukrainian officials, are among those who demanded his release.
RFE/RL is a private, independent international news organization whose programs — radio, Internet, television, and mobile — “reach a weekly audience of more than 47 million people in 23 countries,” the broadcaster said.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
More Worthy News
A government ban on major social media platforms that enraged young Nepalis has spiraled into the country’s deadliest political violence in decades, with authorities saying Sunday that at least 72 people have been killed and hundreds more injured during protests reflecting years of frustration over corruption, inequality, and “curbs on freedoms.”
Throughout the Hill Country, crosses, words of Jesus, prayers and messages of hope are written on memorials honoring nearly 150 killed from the catastrophic July 4 flash flood.
The NATO military alliance has begun rolling out its defensive posture on its eastern flank bordering Belarus, Russia, and Ukraine. NATO leaders said the new equipment is aimed at deterring potential Russian aggression after at least 19 Russian drones entered Polish territory and Romania also reported a violation of its airspace.
Israel’s surprise strike on Hamas political leaders in Qatar showcased its growing arsenal of advanced ballistic missiles and its ability to deploy them at long range with precision, according to an exclusive report by the Wall Street Journal.
More than 100,000 people packed into central London on Saturday for what organizers billed as the largest free speech rally in British history. The “Unite the Kingdom” march, spearheaded by activist Tommy Robinson, featured a live video appearance by billionaire Elon Musk and a tribute to slain U.S. conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Christians in Pakistan’s flood-hit Punjab province were among those struggling to survive Thursday, while in Indonesia, at least 19 people were confirmed dead after flash floods struck the tourist island of Bali and other regions as deadly monsoon waters swept across parts of South Asia.
Much of the world is mourning after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, the born-again Christian conservative leader, who inspired his generation and whose widow praised him as a loving husband with a deep faith in Jesus Christ.