By Oleg Sentsov, Ukrainian film maker and political prisoner, and others
06.23.2017 [June 23, 2018]
Translated and edited by Voices of Ukraine

TV/film producer (TVINDIE Film Production) Yevgeny Gindilis posted the following on his Facebook page:

“Friends, here is the letter that Oleg Sentsov wrote today in the colony and asked to convey to everyone who has supported and supports him these days”:

Oleg Sentsov’s Letter Transcript:

“To those wearing the t-shirts and to everyone else!
Fellow cinema artists! Thank you all for what you’re doing. For not staying silent. It turns out that being not afraid is so simple, right? The first step is the hardest. Some made it long ago, and some only recently, but I thank each and every one of you for bravery. I understand that you are at risk in openly supporting me right now, while living in this country.

I won’t write or name any names or surnames, not because I don’t know them or not appreciate them, but because I’m afraid of forgetting someone or drawing special attention to someone. I’m thankful to all of you. The shift in the Soviet people’s public consciousness, which had let first to the Perestroika and then to freedom and a collapse of the empire – it all began when cinematographers started these changes with their congress in the 1980s. Perhaps you have the same mission and task: to destroy the even uglier empire that has been built and continues to evolve in your country [Russia]. Good luck with this! But also don’t forget to keep making beautiful movies!

Your Oleg Sentsov

June 22, 2018″

Source: Yevgeny Gindilis FB post

In addition, Anastasia Magazova, an independent Ukrainian journalist from Crimea, posted this on her FB page:

Ukrainian ombudsperson Lyudmila Denisova writes:
“Spoke with Oleg Sentsov’s lawyer, Dmitry Dinze. Today, Dmitry saw Oleg again.

He says that Oleg is very pale, does not move much, and barely gets out of bed. Doctors say that his receptors are already failing. A second crisis (the first one was on the 26th day of fasting) could occur at any moment. From that moment on, the lawyer assumes, they will begin force feeding him immediately.
The situation is dangerous!
Therefore, I appeal to the head of the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service, Gennady Kornienko, to immediately give me permission to visit Oleg Sentsov!”

Source: Anastasia Magazova

Summary of Sentsov’s case:
– convicted by the North Caucasus Military District Court to 20 years in prison on falsified charges of “creating a terrorist organization and committing two acts of terrorism;” filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who simply stood on Maidan and opposed Russia’s annexation and occupation of Crimea:
– was supposed to serve his sentence in Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange deal;
– was subsequently denied that option on false grounds;
– is currently on the 27th day of an indefinite hunger strike, not for himself, but demanding the Kremlin release all Ukrainian political prisoners
– is 41 years old with 2 children and currently on his 43rd day [on June 25th] of hunger strike in critical condition

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