President assigns Levko Lukyanenko scholarships to Sentsov, Sushchenko

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has signed a decree "On the assigning of state scholarships named after Levko Lukyanenko," the press service of the head of state has reported.

Those who received scholarships are Kremlin prisoners, film director Oleg Sentsov, Ukrinform journalist Roman Sushchenko, Crimean journalist Mykola Semena, as well as Volodymyr Balukh, who hoisted a Ukrainian flag in his home in the Russian-occupied Crimea.

"According to the decree, state scholarships named after Levko Lukyanenko were assigned for the term of unlawful detention, holding and for one year after release to Volodymyr Balukh, Mykola Semena, Oleg Sentsov, and Roman Sushchenko," the report reads.

The Levko Lukyanenko scholarships were also assigned for one year to Crimean Tatar activists Ilmi Umerov and Akhtem Chiygoz, who were political prisoners of the Kremlin. Russia handed over them to Turkey, and they could return to Ukraine.

op