PEN America to honor imprisoned Ukrainian journalist at gala

By HILLEL ITALIE
AP National Writer

NEW YORK (AP) — A Ukrainian journalist imprisoned in Crimea will be honored next month at the PEN America gala. Vladyslav Yesypenko, arrested last year and sentenced recently to six years in a Russian labor camp for alleged possession and transport of explosives, is this year’s recipient of the PEN/Barbey Freedom to Write Award. Yesypenko is a freelance correspondent for a Crimean radio program and news source run by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He has denied the allegations and said he confessed after being tortured and threatened with death. He was arrested in March 2021 by Russia’s Federal Security Service.