On 9 June at 18:30, the PEN Ukraine space will host an event marking the anniversary of the illegal seizure by the Russian Federation of the premises of the IZOLYATSIA Foundation in Donetsk and their transformation into an illegal prison and a site of torture. Three thematic axes will be central: the (im)possibility of returning home; the resilience of Ukrainians; and the need to broaden our understanding of the agency of the environment.

9 June marks 12 years since the premises of the IZOLYATSIA Foundation — a platform for cultural initiatives and a cultural centre located on the site of a former insulation-materials factory in Donetsk — were seized by armed members of the Russian Federation's occupying forces, who turned it into Russia's most notorious illegal prison, a place of torture and killings.

From its founding until 2014, the IZOLYATSIA Foundation operated in Donetsk, using artistic practices and projects on a local, national, and international scale to stimulate systemic change in Ukrainian society.

To mark the fact that the foundation's team managed to endure and continue preserving the heritage of eastern Ukraine, as well as the resilience of the civil society and culture of the Donetsk region that persist despite the Russian occupation, IZOLYATSIA Day was established — a date that serves as a call for justice and a space for reflecting on the social and cultural questions relevant to Ukrainian society.

The event will open with the premiere of Zoya Laktionova's video work "Garden of Names", created especially for IZOLYATSIA Day, on the theme of remembrance as an act of resistance.

The screening will be followed by a discussion at which the results of the closed trial of Roman Liahin will be announced and discussed. On 29 April 2026, the court delivered a verdict against the former "head of the DNR Central Election Commission", one of the organisers of the illegal 2014 referendum, who, among other things, organised the seizure of IZOLYATSIA in Donetsk. This is the first verdict in Ukraine under the law on war crimes. Alongside the announcement of the verdict, the discussion will address the endurance and flexibility of Ukraine's cultural sector, using the IZOLYATSIA Foundation as an example. The event will also raise questions of ecocide and domicide in the context of the war, with an emphasis on the need for interdisciplinary approaches that combine law, environmental humanities, and artistic practice.

Participants:

• Volodymyr Yefimenko, lawyer, partner at the Holovan & Partners Bar Association;
• Anna Gruver, writer, poet, translator, member of PEN Ukraine;
• Sasha Dovzhyk, head of the INDEX organisation, writer and editor;
• Volodymyr Hryshko, senior legal adviser at Truth Hounds and member of the International Expert Council of the Office of the Prosecutor General, where he advises on war crimes against the environment;
• Lyuba Yakimchuk, writer, poet, screenwriter.

Moderator: Kateryna Filyuk, curator at the IZOLYATSIA Foundation, researcher of visual culture.

The event will conclude with readings by Anna Gruver and Lyuba Yakimchuk of excerpts from their works.

The event will take place at: 14-a Lukianivska St., PEN Ukraine space (Kontraktova Ploshcha metro station).

To take part, please fill out the registration form: