G7 Ambassadors call for release of Kremlin’s political prisoners through bilateral exchange

The relevant statement was posted on Twitter of the Canadian Chair of the G7 Ambassadors’ Support Group in Kyiv.

“We are deeply concerned about the situation of Oleg Sentsov and other Ukrainian prisoners and detainees in Russia. Their release, as part of a broader bilateral exchange of detainees, would be an important humanitarian step forward,” reads the statement.

As reported, Verkhovna Rada Human Rights Commissioner Liudmyla Denisova was not allowed to visit Ukrainian political prisoners Oleg Sentsov, Roman Sushchenko, Mykola Karpiuk illegally held by Russia. On June 19, Denisova in a letter to Magne Barth, the head of the regional delegation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Russia, Belarus and Moldova, asked for assistance in meeting with Ukrainian political prisoners.

More than 70 Ukrainian political prisoners are held in Russia and in occupied Crimea, including Ukrinform journalist Roman Sushchenko, who was sentenced to 12 years in a high-security penal colony.

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