Balukh suspends hunger strike
Volodymyr Balukh, a pro-Ukrainian activist jailed in Russian-controlled Crimea, has suspended a months-long hunger strike pending his expected transfer to a prison in Russia. Archbishop Klyment, the cleric responsible for Crimea in the Kyiv-based Ukrainian Orthodox Church, told reporters in Kyiv on October 9 that Mr. Balukh will resume the hunger strike once he arrives at prison in Russia. He is currently being held at a jail in Crimea. The archbishop read aloud from a letter in which Mr. Balukh wrote that he “used the last chance to find at least a crack in the occupier’s punitive system, where some elements of common sense and honor might be present, and decided to halt the hunger strike.” He said he will resume the protest fast once he is in a prison in Russia. “I will not allow myself to consume food from the occupiers’ hands and wear their prison robes,” Mr. Balukh wrote, adding that if he dies he would like to be buried in the “unoccupied part of Ukraine.” Initially arrested in December 2016, Mr. Balukh was convicted on a weapons-and-explosives possession charge in August 2017. His conviction and nearly four-year prison sentence was reversed on appeal and returned to a lower court, which issued the same verdict and sentence in January. A new case against Mr. Balukh was opened in March, after the warden of the penal facility where he is being held sued him, claiming that Mr. Balukh attacked him. In July, a court found Mr. Balukh guilty of that charge and ruled that he will serve a total of five years in prison for both convictions. On October 3, the top regional court reduced Mr. Balukh’s five-year prison term by one month. Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula in March 2014, sending in troops and staging a referendum denounced as illegitimate by at least 100 countries, after Moscow-friendly Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych was pushed from power by protests. Rights groups say that since that time Russia has moved aggressively to prosecute Ukrainian activists and anyone who questions the annexation. (Crimea Desk, RFE/RL’s Ukrainian Service)
Sentsov ‘forced’ to end hunger strike
Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, imprisoned in Russia after opposing Moscow’s takeover of his Crimean homeland, says he is being forced to end his hunger strike after 144 days to avoid force-feeding. “I’m forced to halt my hunger strike from tomorrow, that is October 6,” Mr. Sentsov said in a handwritten statement, a copy of which was released to the media by his lawyer Dmitry Dinze. He said Russian authorities had planned to start force-feeding him “due to the critical state of my health.” Mr. Dinze confirmed to Current Time TV that Mr. Sentsov would end his strike on October 6, after visiting him at a civilian clinic in the town of Labytnangi on October 5. Earlier on October 5, Russia’s Penitentiary System (FSIN) said Mr. Sentsov had ended his nearly five-month hunger strike. FSIN Deputy Director Valery Maksimenko said on October 5 that Mr. Sentsov agreed to start eating and that “Moscow diet experts have prepared a special diet for him to help him gradually start full-fledged food consumption.” Mr. Sentsov “has officially, in writing, agreed to ingest food,” independent news network Dozhd quoted Mr. Maksimenko as saying in an interview. Ukraine’s human rights ombudswoman, Lyudmyla Denisova, said on Facebook that Mr. Sentsov has stopped his hunger strike, which she said meant he was in “critical” condition. Ms. Denisova said she was ready to travel to Russia’s remote Far Northern Yamalo-Nenets region, where Mr. Sentsov is being held. Mr. Maksimenko said the inmate’s lawyers “helped him [make] the right decision” about the hunger strike. “He’ll be fine,” Mr. Maksimenko added. However, Ms. Denisova wrote that she did not believe Mr. Maksimenko’s claims that Mr. Sentsov’s health was satisfactory. “Oleh Sentsov has stopped the hunger strike. That means his state of health is critical, practically on the edge,” Ms. Denisova wrote. She also demanded that Russian authorities provide the official results of Mr. Sentsov’s medical examinations. “In Russia, they only verbally, without medical proof, gave assurances that his health is satisfactory,” she wrote. “[That’s a] lie. In that case, they wouldn’t have ‘persuaded’ him to stop the hunger strike and would not have constantly put psychological pressure on a political prisoner. A person with such aims, such willpower, devotion, and such a sincere pro-Ukrainian position could not give up.” She also said that Kyiv was ready to bring in Ukrainian or foreign medical personnel to treat Mr. Sentsov. Mr. Sentsov, a Crimean native who opposed Russia’s 2014 takeover of the Ukrainian peninsula, is serving a 20-year prison term after being convicted of terrorism in a trial that he, human rights groups, and Western governments contend was politically motivated. He started a hunger strike on May 14, demanding that Russia release 64 fellow Ukrainians he considers political prisoners. Mr. Sentsov, 42, has refused to seek a pardon from Russian President Vladimir Putin, maintaining his innocence. Human Rights Watch, citing a lawyer for Mr. Sentsov, said last month that he agreed to begin taking an oral nutritional supplement at some point in the past two months, after suffering his first health crisis. (RFE/RL Current Time TV, with reporting by Dozhd, TASS and Interfax)
Sentsov short-listed for Sakharov Prize
Oleh Sentsov, a Ukrainian film director imprisoned in Russia after opposing Moscow’s takeover of his native Crimea, has been placed on a short list of candidates for the 2018 Sakharov Prize. He was selected as one of three finalists in a closed October 9 vote by members of the European Parliament’s foreign affairs and development committees. The other short-listed candidates are Moroccan activist Nasser Zefzafi and 11 NGOs that work to save the lives of migrants traveling across the Mediterranean Sea to Europe. The winner will be chosen on October 25 in Strasbourg, and the award ceremony is scheduled for December 12. The prize, named in honor of the Soviet physicist and dissident Andrei Sakharov, was established by the European Parliament in 1988 to honor individuals and organizations who defend human rights and fundamental freedoms. Mr. Sentsov, a Crimean native who opposed Russia’s 2014 takeover of the Ukrainian peninsula, is serving a 20-year prison term after being convicted of terrorism in a trial that he, human rights groups, and Western governments contend was politically motivated. (RFE/RL, with reporting by RFE/RL Brussels correspondent Rikard Jozwiak)
EU calls for release of illegally detained
The European Union’s Foreign Affairs spokesperson stated on October 7: “Oleh Sentsov was jailed for alleged activities conducted on the Crimean Peninsula, the illegal annexation of which by the Russian Federation he strongly opposes. The EU considers the case to be in breach of international law and elementary standards of justice. Oleh Sentsov has shown incredible courage, determination and selflessness during his 145 days of hunger strike. His health has now deteriorated to a critical state. In refusing to provide him with appropriate medical treatment in an institutionalized medical setting, the authorities of the Russian Federation have violated his human rights as well as their own human rights commitments under international law, namely the European Court of Human Rights interim measure of 25 July this year.” The spokesperson added: “The European Union stands in solidarity with Oleh Sentsov and, in addition to swift and appropriate medical treatment, expects his immediate release, along with all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in Russia and on the Crimean peninsula. International human rights standards on the peninsula must be upheld.” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Ukraine in air exercises with NATO countries
Ukraine has opened a series of large-scale air-force exercises with the United States and seven other NATO countries, the Ukrainian Defense Ministry says. The 12-day-long Clear Sky 2018 war games are being held in western Ukraine. Some 700 troops are taking part, half of them from NATO member countries – the United States, Britain, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Poland, and Romania. U.S. aircraft including F-15C Eagle fighter planes and C-130J Super Hercules military transport planes and drones will train with about 30 Ukrainian aircraft, the ministry said on October 8. Ukrainian Air Force spokesman Yuriy Ignat said Polish, Romanian and Ukrainian aircraft will work together “in the air to protect the airspace for the first time.” The aim is “to enhance regional capabilities to secure air sovereignty and promote peace and security through cooperation,” a U.S. Air Force statement said. Concerns have risen about Russia’s increased assertiveness, particularly after Moscow’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea region in 2014. (RFE/RL, with reporting by AFP and UNIAN)
Donbas special status extended by one year
On October 4, Ukraine’s Parliament extended the “Law on special procedures of local self-government in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts,” for one year, with 245 MPs voting in support. The law was first adopted in 2014. Ukrinform reported that the adoption of the bill is aimed, among other things, at determining the need to preserve the international sanctions regime introduced to restore the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine, as well as creating the necessary conditions for the deployment of a United Nations peacekeeping operation in certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. No national deputies from the Samopomich or the Batkivshchyna parliamentary factions voted to support the bill. U.S. Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker tweeted: “Congratulations to @Poroshenko, @Parubiy and @ua_parliament for renewing special status. Major step; Ukraine doing its part for peace. Now it’s Russia’s turn. Disappointed some major political figures did not support this important step.” He also tweeted: “Ukraine has repeatedly done its part to implement Minsk, now Russia must fulfill its commitments – a real ceasefire, withdrawal of foreign fighters/equipment, removal of illegal armed formations, exchange detainees…” (Ukrainian Canadian Congress Daily Briefing)
Belarus says Ukrainian could be pardoned
The chief of Belarus’s secret police, the KGB, says Ukrainian citizen Pavlo Sharoyko, who was sentenced to eight years in prison on espionage charges in May, could soon be pardoned. Valery Vakulchyk told reporters in Minsk on October 5 that the possibility of pardoning Mr. Sharoyko is currently under discussion. Mr. Sharoyko was detained in October 2017 by the KGB under the accusation of being part of a spy ring working for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry. Kyiv denied the Belarusian accusations. Ukraine and Belarus expelled each other’s diplomats after Mr. Sharoyko’s arrest. Mr. Vakulchyk also said that Belarus expelled two foreigners for “spying activities earlier this week.” He did not specify the expelled individuals’ nationalities. (RFE/RL’s Belarus Service, with reporting by BelTA and Belapan)