Ukrainian ombudsman plans to visit Russia June 11, coordinating her steps with Russian counterpart
Ukrainian ombudsman Liudmyla Denisova on President Petro Poroshenko's orders plans to visit the Ukrainians being held in Russian prisons in the near future.
"According to Liudmyla Denisova, under the agreements between the Ukrainian and Russian presidents, the list of political prisoners, whom the both countries' ombudsmen are planning to visit, is being drawn up," the Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada human rights ombudsman said in a statement on its website on Saturday evening.
"We have already had talks with Russian ombudsman Tatyana Moskalkova. Now, we are negotiating the date, when I will visit Russia, and she, in turn, will visit Ukraine," Denisova said, noting that she is planning to visit the Simferopol detention facility along with her trip to the Russian mainland.
The ombudsman said that during these visits she had been planning to inspect the prison conditions of holding Ukrainian citizens, their provision with legal and medical aid, and the observance of the national legislation by Russia in the Ukrainians' imprisonment and the implementation of ratified international conventions regulating the prisoner rights by the country.
At the same time, the Russian ombudsman still wants to visit only the detained editor-in-chief of the RIA Novosti Ukraine news agency, Kyrill Vyshinsky, but she is also drawing up her list, Denisova said.
"My visit will certainly be held in the near future. I am ready to visit Russia and Crimea already starting June 11 and to see this with my eyes how our political prisoners are being held. Petro Poroshenko also pledged that my visit is supported by all consular services," Denisova said.
As reported, Poroshenko ordered that ombudsman Denisova visit Ukrainian citizens imprisoned in Russia and the self-proclaimed Donbas republics in the near future. For this the president tasked the Foreign Ministry to facilitate the ombudsman's work in Russia.