Contents tagged with Prisoners

  • Ukrainian MFA wishes happy birthday to political prisoner in Crimea

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine wished Happy Birthday to Mustafa Degermendzhi, one of the defendants in the “case of February 26th.” He is currently held in custody in the Simferopol Remand (SIZO).

    "In a Crimean prison, Mustafa Degermendzhi celebrates his birthday. We wish durability. The truth will prevail," the Press Secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, Marian Betz, tweeted.

    Mustafa Degermendzhi was detained on the 7th of May, 2015. On April 29th, 2016, the Kiev District …

  • German radio station: Prisoners are tortured in so-called DPR and LPR

    Deutschlandfunk radio reported that, according to Ukrainian human rights groups, prisoners are being tortured in 79 prisons in the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics.

    The results of this investigation were published by the German public-law radio station Deutschlandfunk on the 18th of May. According to the radio station, human rights advocates are planning to transfer the collected materials to The Hague Tribunal for an investigation into possible war crimes.

    The head of …

  • SSU: 128 Ukrainian prisoners are being held in the Donbas and on Russian territory

    According to Yuriy Tandit, the Adviser to the Chairman of the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU), 128 Ukrainian prisoners are being held in the breakaway regions of eastern Ukraine and on Russian territory, as reported by UKRINFORM.

    "The list that we submitted (during the negotiations of the Trilateral Contact group in Minsk - Ed.) includes 128 names. It includes not only our people in Donetsk and Luhansk, but also those who are on the territory of Russia," Tandit said.

    He noted that women and …

  • Three Ukrainian prisoners released by so-called LPR

    On February 26, 2016 in Schastie, Luhansk region, an exchange of prisoners took place between Ukrainian and representatives of the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic.  At the boundary line, Ukraine handed over six people. So-called LPR representatives, in turn, released three Ukrainians. Leonid Mazanko, Vitaly Chuprinin and Rostislav Mavrin all gained their freedom and returned to the territory under Ukraine’s control. 

    Passing the Ukrainian boundary roadblock, the representatives of the …

  • Three Ukrainians freed from LPR captivity

    The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, has confirmed that three prisoners have been released by militants of the so-called Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR).  The exchange was conducted as per the “six for three” practice.  He received this information from the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU).

    On the 26th of February, Poroshenko posted on Facebook that the three released prisoners were on their way home.

    Kiev and separatists of the Lugansk region discussed the details of the exchange at …

  • Representatives of Ukraine and so-called LPR agree to exchange prisoners

    Representatives of Ukraine and the so-called Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) have agreed to exchange a total of 12 prisoners on the 26th of February.  This exchange will occur in Minsk and is a result of the Trilateral Contact Group's meeting on the conflict settlement in the Donbas region.  This was reported to Interfax by the OSCE representative, Martin Sajdik.

    “On the 26th of February, the release of another group of people is planned,” Sajdik said.  He also reported that on February 20th, …

  • Due to Trilateral Contact Group, POWs are no longer subject to torture in eastern Ukraine

    One of the results of the negotiations of the Trilateral Contact Group in Minsk was the cessation of the torture of the Ukrainian soldiers held in captivity in the Donbass region.  This was stated by the Commissioner of the President of Ukraine, Irina Herashchenko.

    Herashchenko said that these prisoners, who are held captive by members of the so-called People's Republics in the Donbas, have stopped being tortured.  According to her, this was due to the negotiations in Minsk.

    She said that the …

  • Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada calls on foreign governments to continue pressuring Russia

    The Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine has adopted an appeal to the parliaments of foreign countries with regard to Russia and the threats of pro-Russian separatists to execute prisoners held in the Donbas region.  This was stated in two resolutions, which were approved by 236 out of 239 deputies on the 18th of February.

    The Ukrainian parliament has called on foreign countries to “use all available mechanisms at governmental, parliament and non-governmental levels.  They should also give a clear signal …

  • Herashchenko: 127 Ukrainians are still held by separatists in the Donbas

    The Commissioner of the President for the peaceful settlement of the situation in Donetsk and Lugansk regions and Ukraine’s representative to the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group (Ukraine-Russia-OSCE), Iryna Herashchenko, stated at a press conference on the 17th of February that 127 Ukrainians are held captive by militants.

    “Currently, we have 137 Ukrainians, who are illegally held captive. Ten of them are held in Russian prisons,” the Ukrainian news quoted her as saying. …

  • Separatists in Donbas use the exchange of prisoners as leverage over Ukraine

    Former President Leonid Kuchma, the second President of independent Ukraine and current representative of the Ukrainian government to the Trilateral Contact Group, stated that separatists in Donbas use the exchange of prisoners as leverage over Ukraine, when in fact many of those prisoners could be deceased by now.

    “The last time, we negotiated twice on the number of prisoners to be exchanged. Representatives of the separatists came and negotiations started anew. Delaying this process is their …