Ukraine's Foreign Affairs Ministry closely monitors Sentsov, Kolchenko cases - Aug. 06, 2018

Ukraine’s Foreign Affairs Ministry closely monitors Sentsov, Kolchenko cases

By Interfax-Ukraine.

Published Aug. 6, 2018 at 5:55 pm

An activist sets a placard depicting US President Donald Trump (L) speaking to Oleg Sentsov "You can go home!" during a rally at Independence Square in Ukrainian capital of Kiev marking Oleg Sentsov birthday on July 13, 2018.The mother of Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who has refused food for two months in a Russian prison, has appealed to President Vladimir Putin to pardon him as hopes fade for a speedy release.Supporters on Friday released a letter to Putin from Lyudmila Sentsova as her activist son turned 42 in a jail beyond the Arctic Circle in far northern Russia.Sentsov is serving a 20-year sentence after being convicted on terrorism charges over an alleged arson plot in Crimea. His supporters say the case was trumped up. / AFP PHOTO / Sergei SUPINSKY

Photo by AFP

The cases of political prisoners in Russia Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko, who are held in Russia, are under special control of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine (MFA).

“The cases of Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko are under special control, because the Russian side continues to ignore our requests,” State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Andriy Zayats said at a briefing in Kyiv on Aug. 6.

He added that nine Ukrainian citizens had been freed from Russia with the efforts of Ukrainian diplomats. According to the diplomat, on the whole, over 300 notes were sent to the Russian side with the demand to ensure the rights and release of Ukrainian citizens, while consuls visited 240 Ukrainians in prisons.

In the meantime, Ukrainian Oleksandr Kostenko, arrested by Kremlin authorities in Russian-occupied Crimea in 2015, was released on Aug. 3 and returned to Ukraine on Aug.6, according to an Aug. 6 Facebook post by Iryna Gerashchenko, the vice chairwoman of Ukrainian parliament and Ukraine’s representative in the Minsk, Belarus, negotiations process.