The U.S. State Department has called on Russia to immediately release Ukrainian political prisoners convicted in Russia.
“The United States calls for the immediate release of Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko and all Ukrainian political prisoners held by Russia. #FreeSushchenko #FreeSentsov,” State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert wrote on Twitter on Friday.
As reported, on June 4, the Moscow City Court sentenced Ukrainian journalist Sushchenko to 12 years of imprisonment in a high-security penal colony for alleged espionage.
Russia’s Federal Security Service notified of Sushchenko’s detention “while carrying out an espionage operation” in Moscow on October 3, 2016.
As reported, the North Caucasus Military Court in Rostov-on-Don ruled in August 2015 to sentence Sentsov, who had been detained in Crimea in 2014, to 20 years in a high-security penitentiary on charges of setting up a terrorist group in Crimea. On May 14, 2018, Sentsov went on a hunger strike demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners held in Russia.
