EU calls on Kremlin to immediately release all illegally detained Ukrainians

The European Union once again called on Russia to stop detentions and searches in the houses of the Crimean Tatar people in the annexed Crimea and to immediately release all illegally detained Ukrainians.

Maja Kocijančič, the spokesperson for the EU’s Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, informed this on Twitter.

“Reports of another round of searches and arrests of Crimean Tatars by Russia in the illegally annexed peninsula. We expect all illegally detained Ukrainians to be released without delay,” she wrote.

She also added that the EU did not recognize the enforcement of Russian legislation in Crimea and Sevastopol and expected all illegally detained Ukrainians to be released without delay.

As Ukrinform reported, on June 10, Russian security officers detained eight people on terrorism charges after the searches in Alushta, Bilohirsk and Simferopol districts in Crimea. The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation stated that "investigative measures" were taken within the framework of a criminal case under Art. 205.5 (organization or participation in the activities of a terrorist organization) and concerned the religious organization Hizb ut-Tahrir.

The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine calls on the international community to increase pressure on the Russian Federation in connection with new massive illegal searches in houses and detentions of Crimean Tatars in the occupied Crimea.

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