Ukrainian journalist Yesypenko released from Russian captivity

The media worker had been tortured by Russian security forces.

Ukrainian journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko has been released after more than four years of Russian imprisonment and has left the temporarily occupied Crimea, Radio Free Europe reports.

Yesypenko was released on June 20, but the news was made public by the media outlet on Sunday evening. RFE thanked the governments of the United States and Ukraine for their efforts to bring the journalist home.

“For over four years, Vlad was arbitrarily punished for a crime he did not commit. He paid an unbearably high price for reporting the truth about what was happening in Russian-occupied Crimea. For this, he was tortured — both physically and psychologically. As we celebrate his joyful reunion with his wife Kateryna and their young daughter Stefania, we cannot overlook the pain inflicted on this family by the Russian authorities,” said RFE President and CEO Stephen Capus.

Yesypenko is a freelance journalist for the “Crimea.Realities” project of the Ukrainian service of Radio Free Europe. He reported on social and environmental issues, filmed street interviews and produced reports about life on the occupied peninsula.

In March 2021, he was detained by officers of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), who accused him of allegedly gathering information “in the interests of Ukrainian intelligence” and of storing a “homemade explosive device” in his car.

For 27 days, independent lawyers were not allowed access to him. Meanwhile, the Russian-controlled “Crimea24” TV channel aired an interview with Yesypenko in which he confirmed that he worked for the RFE project.

In 2022, a so-called “court” of the occupying authorities sentenced the journalist to five years in prison and imposed a fine of 110,000 rubles (currently about 58,800 UAH). The Russian prosecutor’s office had demanded 11 years in prison. During the trial, Yesypenko testified that he had been tortured by Russian security forces, including being electrocuted, in order to force a confession.

While in captivity, Yesypenko became the recipient of several prestigious awards and was also granted the state scholarship named after Levko Lukianenko, which is awarded to Ukrainian political prisoners.

• In April 2025, the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine reported that forensic medical examination found signs of torture and ill-treatment on the body of journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna, who died in Russian captivity.

Artem Dzheripa