In her work entitled “The peninsula of Terror”, Elena spoke about the crimes of the Russian Federation in occupied Crimea.

A correspondent of Suspilne found out from Olena why she decided to take part in it and how long the preparation for the contest lasted, and we also talked to the hero of the winner’s report - Seytumer Seytumerov.

“I am a translator, so I speak Spanish and have worked in the media, which cover the situation in Ukraine in Spanish. That’s why I thought, why not write an article in Spanish about Ukraine”, - the journalist said.

“What seems obvious to you and me, is often questioned abroad. Because Russian propaganda is quite active there. That is why it is so important to show the truth and fight against this propaganda the true coverage of such events, including events in occupied Crimea”, - Stetsiuk said.

“I showed through an actual story, through the prism of a specific person - Seytumer Seytumerov, an activist and a Crimean Tatar journalist, a photographer - to show what is happening in occupied Crimea. So the idea arose to write the material “La peninsula del terror” - which translates as “The peninsula of terror”. The name speaks for itself. I also mentioned the rally on February 26, 2014", - she said.

According to her, Seytumer was illegally accused of terrorism in occupied Crimea. He did not accept the occupation and went to the controlled part of Ukraine because his house was searched.

It turned out to be a crime for the Russian security forces that he, a Crimean Tatar, visited a mosque in Bakhchisaray and communicated with like-minded people on religious topics. He has been going to the mosque since the 5th grade.

“I decided to interview Seytumer Seytumerov because I think that’s how we need to tell what is happening in the occupied territories of Ukraine”, - Stetsiuk explained.

Stetsiuk also informed that there was more than a month to write the competition work, so the journalist was preparing in her free time. The most difficult thing for her was to reduce the already written material because in the conditions of the competition it was possible to have only 6 thousand characters.

Seytumer Seytumerov, a journalist and former Crimean Solidarity activist, told Suspilne that his message was aimed at making foreign readers understand the current situation in Crimea.

“Such work as Olena did - informing in Spanish for the Spanish-speaking community. It is important for them to know that Crimea did not go to Russia, as they say, through a “referendum”etc”, - Seytumerov said.

“After the occupation in 2014, many foreign media came to Crimea. I talked about what I saw and how I felt. I aimed my message for the world to unite and become more active, to demand an end to this unwarranted persecution of activists. I wanted to tell the world that there are such people as Crimean Tatars, who continue their struggle. In my opinion, Olena did an important job. The topic of Crimea has become silent in recent years. It was such an honour to tell Olena my story, and now she would broadcast it to the Spanish-speaking part of the world", - he stressed.