Stanislav Aseyev

Stanislav Volodymyrovych Aseyev (Ukrainian: Станіслав Володимирович Асєєв; born 1 October 1989) is a Ukrainian writer and journalist, human rights activist, and founder of the Justice Initiative Fund. Veteran of the Russo-Ukrainian war. His best-known work is the novel The Torture Camp on Paradise Street (2020). In May 2014 his native city of Donetsk fell under the control of Russian militants and he remained there. From 2015 through 2017 Aseyev published his reports (writing under the pen name Stanislav Vasin) for the Mirror Weekly newspaper and other Ukrainian media. On 2 June 2017, he disappeared. On 16 July, an agent of the Ministry of State Security of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) confirmed that he was kidnapped by militants from the DPR. Despite overwhelming international support, Aseyev was sentenced to 15 years and spent 962 days in Izolyatsia prison. He was released as part of a prisoner exchange and handed over to Ukrainian authorities on 29 December 2019.