Today, a letter-writing evening in support of political prisoners unlawfully held in Russian prisons took place at the Lapinlahden Lähde cultural center

Both Russian-speaking residents of Finland and Finnish- and English-speaking participants took part in the event, writing letters to Crimean Tatars as well as to Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.

In the space where the meeting was held, an exhibition of works on the theme of the Karelian epic Kalevala by political prisoner Anastasia Dyudyaeva is currently on display. Today marks the 191st anniversary of the first publication of the Kalevala. Participants also wrote letters to Anastasia to support her during her imprisonment and to express condolences following the sudden death of her husband, Alexander Dotsenko, in prison on February 19.

It should be recalled that in 2024, Alexander Dotsenko and Anastasia Dyudyaeva were sentenced to three and three and a half years, respectively, in a penal settlement colony on charges of “incitement to terrorism.” The case against them was initiated over pro-Ukrainian leaflets distributed in a supermarket in St. Petersburg. One of them contained the phrase “putinyaku na gilyaku” (“Putin to the gallows”). Dotsenko and Dyudyaeva pleaded not guilty; during the trial, a handwriting expert for the prosecution expressed doubts that they were the authors of the texts on the leaflets. Alexander was serving his sentence in a penal settlement colony in St. Petersburg; his wife Asya is currently held in Penal Settlement Colony No. 4 in Karelia. She was not allowed to say farewell to her husband.

Below is an excerpt from Asya’s farewell letter to her husband:

“How I love you, Sasha! I had so much I wanted to tell you… And even more I want to hear your stories. To see your drawings and sketches. To feel your love. To give you mine. And every day I write in my notebook: ‘Minä rakastan sinua Saša!’ — which means ‘I love you, Sasha!’The time will come when the real criminals — ghouls, monsters, vampires — will be punished. Koschei’s kingdom is not eternal. They will be judged (perhaps in The Hague), and they will answer for every death.”