Oleksandra Yefymenko

Citizen journalist Vilen Temerianov is a professional welder and has worked in construction. He had not been involved in journalism until 2014 when Russia launched a series of repressive actions in the occupied peninsula. It was then that Temerianov decided to become a citizen journalist to quickly and accurately report on human rights violations in Crimea. He does not particularly enjoy writing, and acquaintances describe him as “a man of few words who takes action.”

The colony is a very unpleasant and dangerous place, but being next to my husband and children, when the four of us stood together and hugged for the first time, I felt absolute happiness

On a piece of white sheet, he drew with a black pen the wagons in which the Crimean Tatars were deported from Crimea. On each of them are written the years of deportation: 1944 and 2014

During the first year after Mustafayev’s arrest, his sons played a game of “house search.” They built a prison out of colorful building blocks and “freed” their father

The occupation of Crimea unfolded before Yesypenko’s eyes. He filmed extensively on his phone: blocked Ukrainian military bases in Crimea, strikes, land grabs by the Russian army, and polling stations during the ‘referendum’