During the visit to the UK on April 22-26, 2017 Hennadii Afanasiev held a number of meetings with officials in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, Head of All-party Parliamentary Group on Ukraine Sir Gerald Howarth, experts of the Royal Institute of International Affairs Chatham House, human rights NGOs as well as representatives of the Ukrainian community.

Mr.Afanasiev visited Oxford University and met with Ukrainian and foreign students studying there.

He also gave interviews for the BBC Ukrainian service, Liberty Radio and the Voice of America (with live broadcasting for the Ukrainian TV “Channel 5”).

Mr.Afanasiev’s speech in the UK Parliament on 25 April, 2017 was the central element of his visit. British MPs, experts and media representatives attended that event.

Mr.Afanasiev informed in details  about his illegal detention in the city of Simferopol (Crimea), inhuman treatment of the Russian special services towards him and other Ukrainian political prisoners, including S.Klyh, O.Sentsov, O.Kostenko and A.Kolomiets. Hennadii Afanasiev called on UK officials and parliamentarians to broaden public attention to the Ukrainians illegally held in the Russian Federation, strengthen pressure on Russia and continue sanctions against the Kremlin.

Mr.Afanasiev paid particular attention to massive human rights violations in Crimea and transformation of the peninsula into a «gray zone» closed for international observers as well as informed about the work of Ukrainian NGOs, including «CrimeaSOS», and their cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.