The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses a strong protest in relation to the decision of Severo-Kavkazskiy district military court of the Russian Federation dated 22 March 2019 on the unlawful conviction of the citizen of Ukraine Pavlo Gryb to 6 years of prison on the basis of fabricated accusations in terrorist activities.

The Russian side has blatantly violated norms and principles of international law – from the brutal kidnapping of Pavlo Gryb in Gomel city (Republic of Belarus) on 24 August 2017, to the failure to provide information on his location for a considerable period of time, unlawful detention in the cities of Krasnodar and Rostov-on-Don, denial of medical assistance up to the unlawful sentence.

All testimonies, provided by Pavlo in the course of court hearings, about intimidation, physical influence and psychological violence on the part of Russian law enforcement bodies were defiantly discarded by the court.

By this court decision the Russian side flagrantly violates human rights, in particular the right to a fair trial and right to life. As a consequence of received serious diseases and a critical health condition Pavlo Gryb might not survive the transferring and detention in inhumane conditions of the Russian penitentiary system. Pavlo Gryb requires continuous medical assistance, regular complex medical examination and stay in a specialized medical facility.

We demand to rescind the unlawful sentence in case of Pavlo Gryb, provide him with the constant medical assistance and ensure his release and unhindered return to Ukraine.

We call on the international community to increase the pressure on the Russian Federation, the aggressor state, in order to stop grave violations of human rights and release the unlawfully sentenced citizen of Ukraine Pavlo Gryb.

Ukraine will continue to exercise all possible political and diplomatic tools to release Pavlo Gryb and all citizens of Ukraine illegally detained under politically motivated charges on the territory of the Russian Federation and the temporarily occupied territory of the Autonomous Republic of the Crimea and the city of Sevastopol.