For the release of left-wing activists and defenders of Mariupol,
DENIS MATSOLA and VLADISLAV ZHURAVLEV
For more than three years, the Ukrainian prisoners of war who participated in the heroic defense of Mariupol, Denis Matsola and Vladislav Zhuravlev, have been held in Russian captivity.
Both are not only marines of the 501st Battalion, but also well-known left-wing activists who have spent years consistently fighting for human rights, social justice, and against all forms of authoritarianism, from Putin to the Ukrainian oligarchic regime.
Denis Matsola is a publicist, political scientist, human rights activist, and former member of the independent left-wing student union “Direct Action” and the organization “Social Movement.” In Crimea, he defended the environment, supported the Crimean Tatar resistance movement, and, after the occupation, assisted the Ukrainian army. Working in Kyiv and Lviv, he participated in the evacuation of civilians, documented war crimes, and published analyses.
Denis voluntarily joined the army in 2021, convinced that defending Ukraine is also a fight for the future of social justice and freedom.
Vladislav “Iskra” Zhuravlev is an anarchist, artist, and volunteer. Before the war, he was active in grassroots cultural and social initiatives, spoke out against political repression in Crimea, and publicly supported autonomy, solidarity, and self-government. Since 2017, he served in a marine battalion, which he later invited Denis to.
Today, both are in Russian captivity in inhumane conditions. Zhuravlev is being held in complete isolation, without communication with the outside world, and Matsola has been held in solitary confinement for over two years, where he is deliberately being starved. There is confirmed information about torture, as a result of which his health has severely deteriorated. Their lives are under direct threat.
This case clearly demonstrates that those captured by the Russian regime are not “neo-Nazis,” as claimed by the Kremlin and Stalinist propaganda, but rather representatives of the people: workers, soldiers, activists of various persuasions, including leftists, socialists, and anarchists.
It is precisely this ideological and social diversity of the Ukrainian resistance that testifies to its truly democratic and popular character. The Kremlin is not fighting an ideology, but rather the will to defend freedom itself.
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We URGENTLY call on the Ukrainian authorities:
Denis Matsola and Vladislav Zhuravlev must be immediately included on the priority lists for exchange and everything possible must be done to secure their release;
We urge international human rights organizations, governments of democratic countries, and left-wing and anti-authoritarian movements around the world to demand an end to torture, a guarantee of the basic rights of prisoners of war, and to use all political and media mechanisms to pressure the Russian Federation.
We call on progressive social and political organizations to support the publicity campaign to inform the public and denounce these conditions. Because silence is no longer an option.
Denis and Vladislav are the faces of the resistance who fight for the country’s freedom and a more just social future. Their release is our common responsibility.
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In Ukraine, the General Coordination Command for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, established under the responsibility of the Office of the President of Ukraine, handles issues of prisoner exchange.
It includes representatives from the Ministry of Defense, the Main Intelligence Directorate, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), the Foreign Intelligence Service, the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the Office of the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Supreme Rada.
This headquarters coordinates all stages of preparation and implementation of exchanges, including list formation, logistics, and interaction with international organizations. See their website: https://koordshtab.gov.ua/ Email: koord@gur.gov.ua