Ukrainian political prisoner Stanislav Klykh illegally held in the Russian custody has announced a hunger strike, human rights activist Tatiana Shchur has said, referring to Klykh’s mother.
“Today Stanislav Klykh’s mother called and said that he announced a hunger strike. He told her this by phone. He cannot tolerate it anymore: neither the cold in the cell, nor the nasty food that makes you sick all the time, and the main Oblivion! Hope awakened by the expectation of change is threatening to turn into new despair. Stas’ hunger strike is a call, a plea, a cry for help addressed to the new president from behind the red brick walls of the Verkhneuralsk prison, from the loneliness and darkness,” Shchur wrote on her Facebook page.
As reported, the Chechen Supreme Court sentenced two Ukrainians, Klykh and Mykola Karpiuk, to 20 and 22.5 years in prison, respectively, on May 26, 2016. They were accused of participating in combat during the first Chechen military campaign as members of the Ukrainian nationalists’ organization, UNA-UNSO, which is outlawed in Russia. In March 2017, Klykh was transferred to Verkhneuralsk.
