Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has instructed the Foreign Ministry and other relevant departments to step up activities for the release of Ukrainian citizens illegally detained in the Russian Federation.
In a statement on his official Facebook page Poroshenko said that he instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other relevant departments to intensify efforts for the soonest release of all Ukrainian citizens and for protection of their rights, including through increased international pressure on Russia.
Poroshenko also said that the absurdity is emphasized by Moscow's recent refusal to hand over Ukrainian citizens Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko to Kyiv based on claims that the two Ukrainians have Russian passports."And this comes after the Russian human rights commissioner recognized Kolchenko and Sentsov as citizens of Ukraine," he said.
Meanwhile the Russian Supreme Court resolved on October 26, 2016, to recognize as lawful the verdict in the case of Ukrainian citizens Karpiuk and Klykh. The two Ukrainians had been sentenced by the Chechnya Supreme Court to 22.5 and 20 years in prison respectively.The court ruled that they had fought against Russian federal government troops during the first Chechen campaign in the ranks of the UNA-UNSO.
