13 other Ukrainian sailors to remain in custody until late October

18:37, 21.08.2019 1 min read

Moscow City Court on Wednesday denied the release of the 13 remaining Ukrainian sailors arrested after an incident in Kerch Strait last fall.

"The ruling by Moscow's Lefortovo Court, which extended custody terms for the accused Viktor Bespalchenko, Volodymyr Varimez, Vladislav Kostyshin, Oleh Melnychuk, Serhiy Chuliba, Yuriy Bezyazychny, Yuriy Budzylo, Volodymyr Lisoviy, Bohdan Nebylitsa and Yevhen Semydotsky until October 24, and for Andriy Artemenko, Vasyl Soroka and Andriy Eider until October 26, is to remain unchanged, the defense appeal is hereby dismissed," the judge ruled.

On August 16, the court upheld the arrest of eleven sailors. The hearing was held behind closed doors to "preserve the secrecy of the preliminary investigation."