On July 22 the most shameful political trial in recent years will be completed in Russia. The court will decide the fate of a historian Yuriy Dmitriev in the fabricated case. The Memorial has recognized the 64-year-old historian as a political prisoner. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

Yuriy Dmitriev is being persecuted for researching Stalin's repressions and preserving historical memory. He spent many years searching for mass graves of those who were executed (shot) and compiling lists of thousands of victims. It’s thanks to him that the world learned about the death of Les Kurbas, Mykola Kulish, Mykola Zerov, Valerian Pidmohylny and other Ukrainian geniuses.

This trial takes place against the background of attempts to falsify the history of Sandarmokh and present the victims of the NKVD executions buried there as victims of the Second World War.

I am grateful to the historian Yuriy Dmitriev, who defended my right to remember the thousands of those killed during the Great Terror.

#UkraineStandWithDmitriev

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