22 April 2026

22 April — Birthday of illegally imprisoned Andrii Kuliievych

Today, Andrii Kuliievych marks his 26th birthday. Since 2020, Russia has been illegally holding him in detention.

Andrii was born on 22 April 2000, lived in Sevastopol, and worked in the construction sector. Following the temporary occupation of Crimea, like thousands of other residents of the peninsula, he found himself subjected to forced Russian citizenship and systemic pressure from the occupation “administration”.

In 2020, Andrii was detained by the occupation security forces and sentenced on a series of fabricated charges. He was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. As of the end of 2025, he was held at Prison No. 2 in Krasnoyarsk Krai, Russian Federation.

Illegally imprisoned Ukrainian citizens in temporarily occupied Crimea and the Russian Federation are often left in isolation, far from their families and homes. This is why international solidarity and constant attention to their cases are of particular importance.

In November 2025, the Ukrainian Canadian Students’ Union (SUSK) joined the advocacy mentoring initiative, becoming mentors to three Crimean political prisoners: Appaz Kurtamet, Abdulmedzhyt Seitumerov, and Andrii Kuliievych.