The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has expressed its protest over a Russian court verdict against Ukrainian citizens Oleh Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko.

"Sentsov, Kolchenko, as well as other Ukrainian citizens who are currently being held illegally in Russian territory, are political hostages and innocent victims of Russian aggression against Ukraine," the ministry said in a statement released in Kyiv on Tuesday.

The court verdict is "an unlawful decision based on investigators' fabricated evidence extracted partly as a result of psychological pressure and torture used against Ukrainian citizens," the ministry said.

"The court flouted the law, having ignored, in particular, the evidence provided by the Ukrainian citizens' defense of their non-involvement in the alleged crimes," the ministry said.

"The verdict attests to Russia's abandonment of the principle of the impartiality of an investigative process and respect for the universal norms in the field of human rights," the ministry said.

It is necessary to "stop the judicial farce" and "immediately release Sentsov and Kolchenko, as well as all other political hostages," the ministry said.

"Ukraine is calling on the global community to publicly condemn this cynical crime against fundamental human rights and increase the political and diplomatic pressure on Russia with the aim of freeing all Ukrainian citizens who continue to be held illegally in Russian territory," the ministry said.

The ministry vowed to do all it can to secure the release of its fellow citizens.