Prisoners of the Kremlin Ukrainians illegally detained in

Prisoners of the Kremlin Ukrainians illegally detained in the Russian Federation and occupied Crimea

KRONOLOGY OF THE ARRESTS Detention of Ukrainian citizens started simultaneously with Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine in March 2014 when Right Sector leader Myloka was arrested Karpyuk and has continued to April 2015 when Crimean Tatar Ferat Saifullaev accused of working with the Islamic organization Hizb ut-Tahrir

The Let. My. People. Go campaign was launched by Euromaidan SOS in order to raise awareness about the Ukrainian citizens illegally detained in the Russian Federation and occupied Crimea on political grounds. The aims of the campaign are to bring about the release of all those on the ‘Let. My. People. Go’ list and to monitor the observance of their fundamental rights, including freedom from torture, the right to a legal defense, the right to medical assistance and others. The campaign is supported by a significant number of organisations in Ukraine and abroad. Reporting is a part of the campaign.

Annexation of Crimea Russian involvement in the armed conflict in Donbas Initiation of a number of trumped-up criminal cases against Ukrainians, including officials, accused of such serious crimes as ‘genocide’, ‘mass murder’, ‘terrorism’ and ‘espionage’. • Powerful state propaganda, designed to portray Ukraine and its inhabitants as the embodiment of an external enemy • Spreading an atmosphere of fear across Crimea and preventing any public speeches criticizing the occupying powers. • Moscow also uses imprisoned Ukrainians as hostages and as a bargain chip during international negotiations. • Includes the highest Ukrainian officials in the list of “criminals” to call into question the legitimacy of the current Ukrainian government

GEOGRAPHY OF THE PRISONERS At least 13 Ukrainians are currently behind bars in Russia and 8 more in occupied Crimea, all are facing up to life imprisonment over trumped-up charges. More 4 are under the threat.

CURRENT SITUATION These people are of different ages, social backgrounds, political and cultural views but are united by the fact they are facing political prosecutions based on staged evidence. Unfortunately, today we still do not have a complete list of those who are being detained in Russian jails, in contradiction with laws and international norms.

VIOLATIONS COMMON FOR THE MOST OF THE SO-CALLED ‘UKRAINIAN CASES’ • Unclear circumstances of detention or abduction from the territory of Ukraine. • Refusal to provide legal and diplomatic protection. • Isolation of detainees from contact with their family and relatives. • Classifying criminal cases in order to conceal the existing violations of the roceedings. • The use of physical and psychological violence in order to compel the detainees to slander themselves and to confess to the crimes. • Charges are not supported by sufficient evidence bases and, in most cases, are based on flimsy testimonies of witnesses. • Disparity of the charges and the alleged crimes. • Unjustified declaration and a spontaneous decision by the Russian authorities to extend the jurisdiction on crimes, committed outside the Russian state and against non. Russian citizens.

STAGES OF THE CASES Convicted – 9 people Sentsov, Kolchenko, Afanasyev, Chirniy, Kostenko, Dzhemilev, Vyhivsky, Soloshenko, Shur Investigation 24% Ongoing trial 33% Convicted 43% Ongoing trial – 7 people Savchenko, Lytvynov, Karpyuk, Klykh, Chyihoz, Asanov, Dehermendzhy Investigation – 5 people Ilchenko, Zaytullaev, Vaytov, Primov, Sayfullaev

MAIN CASES in the Russian Federation

MAIN CASES in occupied Crimea

TORTURES

Savchenko is on hunger strike more than 1 month Klyh’s mental health is challaged after the interrogations, tortures and usage of the phyhotrops URGENT CHALLENGES 73 -years old Soloshenko is between life and death Afanasiyev is refused of medical assistance in the colony

RECOMMENDATIONS The prisoners issue should not be tied to the performance of other points of the Minsk agreements