On Sunday, 15 November, the annual human rights action “Empty Chairs” will take place on Rynok Square in Lviv. It is dedicated to Ukrainian journalists, writers, cultural figures and human rights defenders who are missing, unlawfully imprisoned or being held in Russian captivity. The event will start at 12:00 and this year will be held in parallel in Kyiv as well.
The Lviv action is organised by the Georgiy Gongadze Prize, the Lviv Media Forum and INDEX: Institute for Documentation and Engagement. In the city centre, symbolic installations of empty chairs will be set up — each will bear the name of a person who, because of Russian aggression, cannot be beside their loved ones and colleagues. Every chair will embody a separate story of captivity or disappearance.
Those expected to take part in the Lviv event include, in particular, translator and editor Maryna Aleksandrovych, the wife of missing serviceman, poet and illustrator Mykola Leonovych; the mayor of Skadovsk in the Kherson region, Oleksandr Yakovlev, abducted by Russian occupiers in March 2022; and investigative journalist from the Kherson region and former civilian prisoner Oleh Baturin, who documents Russia’s war crimes. The participation of former prisoners, journalists, human rights defenders and representatives of the cultural community is also expected.
During the action, participants will speak about the experience of Russian imprisonment, the situation of those who are still in captivity or considered missing, and the importance of collective pressure for their release. The event aims to draw the attention of Ukrainian society and the international community to the fate of unlawfully imprisoned civilians and prisoners of war, and to remind everyone that there is a real person behind every name.
According to the Institute of Mass Information, as of 2 November 2026 Russia is holding at least 27 civilian Ukrainian media workers and one journalist-serviceman. Among them are employees of national and local media outlets, freelancers and Crimean citizen journalists.
The organisers invite everyone who wishes to join the actions in Lviv and Kyiv, to express solidarity with Ukrainians held in Russian captivity, support their families and publicly demand the release of all unlawfully imprisoned journalists, writers and human rights defenders.
The date of the action is linked to the International Day of the Imprisoned Writer, marked on 15 November at the initiative of PEN International. This day is also known as Empty Chair Day, and the empty chair has become a symbol of people who cannot be present because of imprisonment, persecution, disappearance or death.