This weekly column began two years ago as a tribute to, and a plea for the release of, the political hostages being held in Vladimir Putin’s chain of prisons and penal colonies. It has grown to include those in similar situations in other authoritarian countries such as Belarus, Azerbaijan and China; and most recently — and perhaps most shockingly — we have added the victims of Donald Trump’s assault on Venezuela.

With all that is happening in the world, and the unprecedented pace at which events are occurring, it is difficult to keep track of all of the tragedies that require our urgent attention and action: Ukrainians freezing and dying as Russia continues to assault their civilian infrastructure; some 3,000 people slaughtered for protesting the brutal regime in Iran; children dying of starvation in Gaza; Greenlanders arming against possible invasion, not by Russia or China, but by the United States; and an ominous silence from the Kremlin in Moscow.

In a world spinning out of control, it is too easy to push other, older matters to the back burner; and that is what seems to be happening to the original hostages. While it is entirely possible that negotiations may be quietly continuing behind closed doors, there has been a notable absence of news concerning new arrests, or the status of those already imprisoned. It is as though their lives have become of secondary importance.

*. *. *

But we cannot — must not — allow that to happen. So, for those known hostages remaining in limbo, here are their names again, with no reported changes since last week other than the addition of the people of Greenland anxiously awaiting word of their fate:

Victims of Greed:

The President, First Lady, and citizens of Venezuela

Europeans Under Threat:

The Nation and the People of Greenland
The people of NATO and EU member states

Prisoners of War:

The 19,500 Kidnapped Ukrainian Children
The People of Ukraine

Immigrant Detainees in Russia:

Migrants from the Central Asian nations of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan

Endangered Exiles:

Mikita Losik
Yulia Navalnaya
Countless Journalists and Other Dissidents

Political Prisoners:

In Azerbaijan:

The “Azerbaijan 7”:
— Farid Mehralizada
— Ulvi Hasanli
— Sevinj Abbasova (Vagifqiai)
— Mahammad Kekalov
— Hafiz Babali
— Nargiz Absalamova
— Elnara Gasimova

In Belarus:

Andrei Chapiuk
Uladzimir Labkovich
Andrzej Poczobut
Marfa Rabkova
Valiantsin Stafanovic
Yuras Zyankovich

In Georgia:

Mzia Amaglobeli

In China:

Chenyue Mao (American)

In Russia:

The “Crimea 8”:
— Oleg Antipov
— Artyom Azatyan
— Georgy Azatyan
— Aleksandr Bylin
— Roman Solomko
— Artur Terchanyan
— Dmitry Tyazhelykh
— Vladimir Zloba

James Scott Rhys Anderson (British)
David Barnes (American)
Gordon Black (American)
Hayden Davies (British)
Antonina Favorskaya
Konstantin Gabov
Robert Gilman (American)
Stephen James Hubbard (American)
Sergey Karelin
Timur Kishukov
Vadim Kobzev
Darya Kozyreva
Artyom Kriger
Michael Travis Leake (American)
Aleksei Liptser
Grigory Melkonyants
Nika Novak
Leonid Pshenychnov (in Russian-occupied Crimea)
Nadezhda Rossinskaya (a.k.a. Nadin Geisler)
Sofiane Sehili (French)
Igor Sergunin
Dmitry Shatresov
Robert Shonov
Grigory Skvortsov
Eugene Spector (American)
Joseph Tater (American, disappeared)
Laurent Vinatier
Robert Romanov Woodland (American)

Please know that you are not forgotten.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
1/18/26