Despite numerous urgent appeals of the Ukrainian side and the international community and contrary to its international obligations, the Russian authorities and its occupation proxies continue illegal detention of at least 29 citizens of Ukraine. In the occupied Crimea dozens of the Ukrainian citizens are under constant prosecution, 16 citizens of Ukraine are considered to be missing, 115 Ukrainians are held hostage in the Donbas.

We are forced to state that the capture, prosecution and tortures against Ukrainian citizens became the ordinary practice for Moscow.

Cases of Oleg Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Ilmi Umerov, Akhtem Chiyhoz and many others eloquently indicate that the Russian Federation is coming back to political repressions and show trials of the Stalin era. Russia violates herewith all possible international norms regarding the protection of human rights, including Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

The last decision of the Russian occupation authorities to deny the defence’s petitions in the case of Ilmi Umerov, Deputy Head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People as well as his prior detention in the psychiatric ward are the exemplary illustrations of such inhuman policy.

We, in Ukraine, understand that only the united and urgent efforts of the world leaders and democratic civil society, for which human rights and human dignity constitute highest priority, may overcome the current arbitrariness of the Russian authorities. 

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine calls upon the international community to exercise all possible measures of political and legal pressure on the Russian Federation to stop its totalitarian methods of suppression of human rights and freedoms of speech and release all detained Ukrainian political prisoners and hostages.