A British cliff diver, Gary Hunt, has again illegally entered Ukraine to take part in a competition in Russian-occupied Crimea, even after being banned from the country for five years in 2017 for the same offense, the Ukrainian Embassy in the UK said in a tweet on Aug. 21.
“By illegally visiting occupied Crimea you are playing into Russian hands,” the embassy tweeted, adding that such violations of Ukrainian law lead to criminal prosecution.
The Kyiv Post attempted to contact Hunt for comment, but had received no response by the time of publication of this story.
Hunt, an elite sports diver specializing in cliff or high diving, is thought to have entered Crimea, which is internationally recognized Ukrainian territory, through a Russian border point. He did not present his travel documents to Ukrainian border guards, making his entry to Ukraine illegal.
Russia began its illegal military occupation of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in 2014.
The embassy called on all UK nationals and institutions to refrain from visiting Russian-occupied Crimea without the official consent of Ukraine. It is possible to enter Ukraine’s Crimea only via the border points designated by the Ukrainian authorities.
In Crimea, Hunt participated in the Freerate Cliff Diving World Cup, an international tournament held in Simeiz near Yalta on Aug. 18. The participants performed dives from a platform attached to a cliff at height of 27 meters. Hunt, 34, took the first place in this competition, winning a prize of $6,000.
Hunt is a former Olympic hopeful and Commonwealth diver who has won many medals at the UK’s National Diving Championships. He placed 3rd in the 10m Synchronized Diving event at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. He later chose to focus his diving career in the niche area of cliff diving.
This is the second time Hunt has entered Ukraine’s Crimea illegally through Russia. The Ukrainian authorities also condemned Hunt’s illegal entry to the country last year, and issued him with a five-year entry ban.
It’s unfortunate that some UK nationals have “neglected the official position of not only Ukraine but also the UK itself,” the embassy said, and quoted a passage from the UK government website gov.uk:
“If you (illegally enter Ukraine), you risk arrest or a fine, and you may be subject to a travel ban,” it reads. “International border crossings that aren’t currently under the control of the Ukrainian authorities include all land border crossings into Donetsk Oblast, many of the land border crossings into Luhansk Oblast, all air and sea ports in Crimea and the Kerch Bridge road and rail crossing into Crimea.”
The Freerate Cliff Diving World Cup attracted to Crimea athletes from France, the United States, Columbia, Mexico, and Ukraine. In fact, second place in the competition and a $5,000 prize was taken by a Ukrainian diver, Olympic athlete Oleksiy Pryhorov, 31. He won the bronze medal in the 3-meter spring synchronized diving in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, representing Ukraine.
