IZOLYATSIA Day 2025
Eleven years ago, on June 9, 2014, representatives of the Russian occupation administration seized the premises of the IZOLYATSIA foundation in Donetsk. That day changed us forever, it transformed a space of art and freedom into a secret prison, a symbol of the cruelty and inhumanity of the Russian occupation. Today, on the eleventh anniversary of that event, we remember not only our own loss but also the thousands of people illegally detained and tortured by the Russian Federation in the occupied territories of Ukraine.
For us, IZOLYATSIA Day has become a day of remembrance and a call for justice. Eleven years have shaped the resilience of Ukrainian culture in the face of occupation. Though we lost our home, IZOLYATSIA did not cease to exist. The team managed to escape and continue its work, transforming trauma into a driving force. These years stand as a testament to how art and civic resistance can confront aggression, preserving and evolving Ukrainian identity in conditions of exile and war. The foundation’s work has become a voice for those being silenced.
Since 2014, the network of illegal prisons, that began with the torture site established on the grounds of our foundation, has expanded. In its ruling on the case “Ukraine and the Netherlands v. Russia,” the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) unequivocally confirmed that the territories seized in eastern Ukraine have been under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation since May 11, 2014. The brutality that reigns in these places has been documented at the international level. The ECHR’s annex to the ruling includes evidence that detainees in the illegal "Izolyatsia" prison are subjected to torture, including electric shocks, mock executions, and sexual violence. These findings are corroborated by reports from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
One of the most painful issues remains the fate of civilian hostages, many of whom have been imprisoned since 2014. As journalist and former “Izolyatsia” prisoner Stanislav Aseyev notes, none of the civilians who have been in Russian captivity for over a decade were among those recently released in large-scale exchanges. According to international investigations such as “Project Victoria,” more than 16,000 civilians are currently being held in illegal prisons and filtration camps across temporarily occupied Ukrainian territories and within the Russian Federation. These individuals endure brutal torture, abuse, and inhumane conditions.
To draw greater attention to the crimes of the Russian Federation, IZOLYATSIA is launching screenings of Igor Minaiev’s film Izolyatsia. The documentary tells the story of the foundation’s capture and its transformation into a secret prison. The film has already been shown in Kyiv, Paris, Lyon, Brussels, Krakow, Warsaw, and Timișoara, with upcoming screenings planned in Nice and Bratislava. We invite other organizations to join the screenings.
If you have a venue and the capacity to host an event in your city, please register via the following link.
To learn more about IZOLYATSIA’s history and explore books, publications, and research, visit: izolyatsia.org.ua.