Oleksandr Kolchenko is one of the best known former Ukrainian political prisoners. Together with Oleh Sentsov, he became the face of the protest movement of Ukrainian citizens in Crimea after Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014. In 2015, Kolchenko was sentenced to 10 years in prison for membership in a “terrorist group”, and joined Oleh Sentsov’s 145-day hunger strike in 2018.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Open Democracy: Oleksandr Kolchenko on Ukraine, Crimea, prison
Ukrainian filmmaker and writer Oleg Sentsov (L) and activist Oleksandr Kolchenko (R) speak at their first press conference on Sept. 10, 2019, after their release in a prisoner swap with Russia.
