Fourth year behind bars: Crimean political prisoner Serhii Tsyhypa turns 64

The Crimean political prisoner and Ukrainian journalist, volunteer from Nova Kakhovka celebrates his sixty-fourth birthday behind bars on August 10, where he was illegally imprisoned by the occupation authorities.

Information and congratulations on this occasion were posted on the website of the human rights organization Crimean Tatar Resource Center.

In 2023, the occupation authorities of Crimea sentenced him to thirteen years in prison.

Back then, while in jail, Serhii wrote encrypted messages to his wife in the form of acrostic poems in letters.

"I received one such letter and it was an acrostic poem. It means captivity, and the first line is the letter "p", so there was a phrase "Humiliation, torture, humiliation". So from all this we can conclude how they are being abused there," explained Olena Tsepiga's wife.

The abuseof political prisoners was also confirmed by Oleksandr Tarasov, a former Kremlin prisoner, journalist and public figure who shared a cell with Tsyhypa. He recalled daily torture.

Reference. Serhiy Vitaliyovych Tsyhypa (born August 10, 1961, Kharkiv) is a political prisoner, major of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, activist, Euromaidan participant, journalist, writer, winner of the National Prize for Freedom of Speech in 2024.

1983-1984 - conscript service in the Soviet Army, military unit 41476, separate radio engineering brigade of the OSNFZ, Group of Soviet Troops in Germany (GRVG, later - ZGV, sergeant, lieutenant)
1987-1992 service in the KGB of the USSR, SSU
1997-1999 - Kakhovka Interdistrict Tax Police Department, Senior Commissioner.
2015-2017 - from the beginning of hostilities in Donbas, he voluntarily joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the 6th "wave" of mobilization; served in the 8th Regiment of the Special Operations Forces (SOF).

From the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, Serhii was in the occupied territory in Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region. On March 12, 2022, between Nova Kakhovka and Tavriysk, Serhiy Tsygipa was detained by the Russian military. This happened after the occupiers checked Serhiy's phone for pro-Ukrainian publications, photos and messages to representatives of the Armed Forces.

Олександра Горст