Press release from The Women’s Political Salon

Ukrainian journalist and Branford resident Iryna Solomko Bonenberger will lead a conversation with two former Ukrainian female Russian prisoners on Monday, March 6 at 6 p.m. in the Blackstone Library auditorium at 758 Main Street in Branford.

Lyudmila Huseynova and Anna Olsen both experienced torture as a result of their activism. They are visiting the U.S. for three weeks as part of Media Initiative for Human Rights, which organized and sponsored this advocacy trip. They spoke at Yale University and will participate in events at the United Nations, New York City Bar, the Metropolitan Opera, Ukrainian Institute of America; they will meet with UN and US government officials.

Huseynova is a resident of the temporarily occupied Novoazovsk region of Donetsk region. She cared for orphans and semi-orphans from the temporarily occupied village of Primorske. In the territory controlled by Ukraine, she collected children's clothes and shoes, bought school supplies, vitamins, candies, and books. She was detained on October 9, 2019. She was detained due to volunteering, a pro-Ukrainian position (a blue-yellow flag hung over her house in Novoazovsk for a long time), and her social media activity. She was imprisoned for three years although “the courts” never delivered an actual sentence.

Anna Olsen is a senior combat medic of the chemical and biological protection company of the 36th separate brigade of marines. She was at the Ilyich factory in Mariupol, was captured and spent six months in captivity. She went through physical and psychological torture, stating that the Russian officers who tortured her “behaved like animals.” Olsen was released along with other prisoners on Oct. 17, 2022.

Solomko Bonenberger, an award-winning Ukrainian journalist, newly minted US citizen, and now correspondent for Ukrainian Service of Voice of America, and her husband Adrian Bonenberger, a Branford native, journalist, and veteran, traveled to Ukraine at the beginning of the war; despite the danger, Solomko Bonenberger’s parents have remained in Ukraine like many citizens. In addition to her journalism resume, Solomko Bonenberger is a documentarian, and pro-democracy advocate. Her work has appeared in numerous Ukrainian publications and broadcast networks for 20 years. She covered the most recent "Euromaidan" revolution as well as the war in Ukraine's east.

A year ago, Branford residents stood in solidarity on the steps of the Blackstone Library in support of Ukraine as Russia began its assault. What was expected to be a quick undertaking has turned into persistence and endurance on the part of the Ukrainian people.

The event on March 6 will also mark International Women’s Day, which is March 8.

The Women’s Political Salon, a group of local women who meet periodically to discuss current events, will host the event. Refreshments will be served.

For more information, email sebahner@snet.net or wbubriski@gmail.com