Internal documents reveal that the Russia recognizes Sentsov as a citizen of Ukraine
The Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia indicates that political prisoner Oleg Sentsov is a citizen of Ukraine, Sentsov's lawyer, Dmitry Dinze wrote on Facebook.
The Office of the Federal Penitentiary Service for the Yamalo-Nenets District of the Ministry of Justice issued a certificate to the consulate of Ukraine in Yekaterinburg that confirms that Oleg Sentsov is a citizen of Ukraine.
"The convicted Sentsov O.G is a citizen of Ukraine. He arrived in prison on October 9, 2017. In his personal file there is the EU passport No. 477125, issued on November 12, 1997," the certificate says. This official document strongly refutes Russian claims that Sentsov was a Russian citizen at the time of his conviction.
Previously, it was reported that Secretary General of the Council of Europe Thorbjørn Jagland will file an official petition on June 25 addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin asking to pardon Ukrainian director Oleg Sentsov, who is being held in a Russian penal colony.
On June 20, Jagland visited Moscow, where he met with Putin, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova. According to Goltgen, during the negotiations with Putin, the Secretary General of the Council of Europe did not raise the issue of releasing Ukrainian political prisoners. During meetings with Lavrov and Moskalkova, he urged the Russians to free Sentsov.
"The Russians listened to this appeal but did not express any support or objections against it," the Deputy Secretary General said.
Employees of the FSB of Russia detained Sentsov in the Crimea in the spring of 2014. He was sent to Russia where he was tried on fabricated charges of organizing terrorist attacks and setting fire to the offices of political parties on the peninsula. In August 2015, a Russian court sentenced him to 20 years in prison. Sentsov is imprisoned in a penitentiary in the town of Labytnangi on the Yamal Peninsula.
On May 14, he began a hunger strike, demanding that the Kremlin release all Ukrainian political prisoners.