Ukraine's Foreign Ministry has sent a protest note to Russia demanding that the Ukrainian parliament's Ombudsperson Liudmyla Denisova be allowed to communicate with Ukrainian political prisoners illegally held in that country.
"We have sent an urgent note to the Russian Federation demanding Ukrainian Ombudsperson Liudmyla Denisova's unimpeded access to Ukrainian political prisoners kept in Russia. First of all, we demand access to those who are on hunger strike and whose condition is serious, namely Oleh Sentsov, Volodymyr Balukh and others," Press Secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Mariana Betsa wrote on Twitter.
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As UNIAN reported earlier, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on June 21 called on his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to release Ukrainian hostages and allow Denisova to visit Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov and other imprisoned Ukrainians.
The Ukrainian Ombudsperson arrived in Russia on June 14. However, she has not been allowed either to meet the Ukrainian prisoners or to communicate with them via video conferencing.
