“It’s getting warmer. I am watching the surrounding world imprisoned within this institution. I am painting small plants again. Everything according to my mood, state of mind. I’m still alive!” writes Halyna Dovhopola in her letter from the colony in Volodymyr region.

68-year-old Halyna Pavlivna remained in Crimea after the temporary occupation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014. The woman did not hide that she supported Ukraine and opposed the occupiers. On November 27, 2019, she was arrested, accused of espionage and sentenced to 12 years in prison.

Despite terrible conditions and criminal conviction, the woman does not lose herself, she knits and does needlework. She is very lucky - watercolors and gouache are allowed to be transferred to IK No. 1 in Volodymyr region, so with the advent of heat, Halyna entertains herself by drawing flowers.

Due to the full-scale invasion, political prisoners of the Russian Federation can no longer receive letters from Ukraine, and our consuls no longer visit them. Thank God that russian activists and Ukrainians from abroad are able to send letters and parcels with things, books and everything necessary for Halyna. The feeling that she is not forgotten and cared for warms her soul.

‍“Thanks to everyone who writes to me, I feel much better than before. I have become stronger and learned so much. I will not give up my life principles. Moreover, I am now sure that I lived the right way when I was free, in all conscience. Now the main thing is to survive and save myself!” shares her feelings Halyna Pavlivna in her March letter.

Activists are very sorry that Halyna was not given the soft orthopedic shoes so necessary for her elderly sore feet last September. One volunteer gave money for them, and another found, bought and sent them. In any case, we are very grateful to them for supporting our prisoner!

Together with Halyna, many other elderly women prisoners are held in the colony, with their illnesses and stories. Many of them are serving serious sentences, but the vast majority of them have sentences half as long as Dovhopola’s falsified 12-year sentence.