Russia in Minsk refuses to discuss release of Ukrainian political prisoners

Ukraine's representative in the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group (TCG), First Vice Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Iryna Gerashchenko wrote this on her Facebook page on the results of a meeting in Minsk on April 24.

“A special topic is the release of political prisoners, hostages, prisoners of war. Yevhen Marchuk [Ukraine's representative in the TCG] addressed Russia's representative in the Trilateral Contact Group Boris Gryzlov with a request for an immediate release of those held in Russia, in particular, sailors. The elections are over, and the Russian Federation must stop blackmailing Ukraine with hostages and unblock their release. We received the following answer: until the end of the trials of the sailors there can be no releases, and then, they will see,” Gerashchenko wrote.

Also, the Ukrainian side did not receive a response to the demand to stop the mockery of the prisoners of war and to refuse psychological and psychiatric examinations that are tortures.

“The Russian Federation is demonstrating its unwillingness to make a compromise, on the contrary, we see only the willingness to freeze the conflict,” Gerashchenko noted.

As reported, on April 16, Ukraine initiated a new lawsuit against Russia and appealed to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea over the application of interim measures to the Russian Federation with a view to immediately release three Ukrainian ships and 24 crewmembers that had been illegally captured and detained by Russian officers in the Black Sea on November 25, 2018.

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