US Welcomes the Release of Soloshenko and Afanasyev
The United States welcomes the return of Yuriy Soloshenko and Gennadiy Afanasyev, Ukrainian citizens who had been illegally detained in Russia, and urges the Russian Federation to release the remaining Ukrainian prisoners.
This statement was made yesterday at a briefing in Washington by State Department spokesperson John Kirby, reports Ukrinform.
“We welcome Russia’s decision to exchange Yuriy Soloshenko and Gennadiy Afanasyev for separatists that were convicted in Ukraine,” Kirby said.
He noted that, like many other Ukrainians still in Russian custody, Soloshenko and Afanasyev were convicted on trumped up, politically motivated charges.
“Their release is another important step in fulfilling Russia’s commitments under the Minsk agreements, and should now provide impetus for the complete implementation of those agreements, including releasing all other hostages and unlawfully detained persons”, said Kirby.
On June 14th, a prisoner swap took place between Ukrainian political prisoners in Russia, Soloshenko and Afanasyev, for the Odessan organizers and participants of the so-called “People’s Council of Bessarabia,” Elena Glischinska and Vitaliy Didenko.
Gennadiy Afanasyev is a Crimean activist, and, during the occupation of the peninsula, supported the movement for a united Ukraine and participated in protests. The 26-year-old was charged in Russia with creating a terrorist group in Crimea together with Oleg Sentsov, and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2015.
Yuriy Soloshenko is a 74-year-old Ukrainian pensioner, the former director of the Poltava defense factory Znamya. He was arrested in Moscow under the pretense that he was recruited by the “fascist regime” and was going to steal secret equipment from a Russian factory. He was serving a 6-year sentence on charges of espionage.
According to human rights activists, there are still at least 29 illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in Russia.
113 more Ukrainians remain imprisoned by Russian-backed militants in the Donbas, as reported earlier by Iryna Gerashchenko, the first vice-speaker of the Verkhovna Rada.
