RFE/RL has welcomed a decision by the European Union Council to place sanctions on two officers of Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) who are responsible for the investigation into, and torture of, journalist Vladyslav Yesypenko.
Yesypenko, a dual Russian-Ukrainian citizen who contributes to Crimea.Realities, a regional news outlet of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, was sentenced to six years in prison in February 2022 by a Russian-controlled court in occupied Crimea.
The EU Council announced on September 8 that it had imposed sanctions on six individuals -- including the two FSB officers -- "that either took part in torturing Vladyslav Yesypenko, or conducted the investigations in his case, and those of members of the Crimean Tatar community, and of the Jehovah's Witnesses in Crimea."
"I'm grateful to our European partners for their commitment to hold to account those responsible for Vladyslav Yesypenko's unjust imprisonment and inhumane treatment," acting RFE/RL President Jeffrey Gedmin said in a statement on September 11.
"Vlad should be released immediately to his wife and young daughter."
WATCH: RFE/RL freelance correspondent Vladyslav Yesypenko, who has been in detention in Russian-occupied Crimea, has made detailed allegations in court about being tortured while in custody. (Originally published in 2021)
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'My Brain Was Boiling': RFE/RL Freelancer Describes Agonizing Torture By Russian Jailers
A former resident of Crimea who left for mainland Ukraine following the 2014 Russian invasion and illegal annexation of the peninsula, Yesypenko would later return to Crimea periodically to report for RFE/RL on the social and environmental situations in Crimea.
The FSB detained Yesypenko in Simferopol on March 10, 2021, on suspicion of collecting information for Ukrainian intelligence. During his apprehension, the FSB claimed that it found an object "looking like an explosive device" in his automobile. He was later charged with "making firearms."
Yesypenko testified during a court hearing that Russian authorities "want to discredit the work of freelance journalists who really want to show the things that really happen in Crimea."
He also made detailed allegations in court about being brutally tortured by Russian FSB officers who forced him into making a false "confession" on Russian television.
In May 2022, Yesypenko was awarded the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award in the United States, which is given to honor writers who are political prisoners.
In August 2022, a Russian-controlled court in Crimea shortened Yesypenko's prison term by one year.