Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets called for increased pressure on Russia due to the illegal detentions of Crimean Tatars in Crimea.

"I call on the world community to increase political and diplomatic pressure on Russia until the full and unconditional release of all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens," the ombudsman's telegram channel said on Saturday.

Lubinets said the Russian-controlled "Kyiv District Court of Simferopol" sentenced the Crimean Tatar Appaz Kurtamet to seven years in a strict regime colony with the first year in prison.

"A 21-year-old boy was accused by the occupiers of 'financing' the volunteer battalion 'Krym' ('creating an armed formation, leading such a formation or financing it' Part 1 of Article 208 of the Criminal Code of Russia). According to the investigation, he transferred UAH 500 to a representative of the battalion. In fact, Appaz lent this money to a friend who by that time had joined the volunteer battalion," he said.

The ombudsman also said Russian security forces detained Kurtamet on July 23, 2022 at the administrative border with the temporarily occupied Crimea, where he was on his way to visit his relatives. On the same day, contact with him disappeared. His whereabouts were not known until October 8. At the end of February 2023, the occupiers initiated a trial.

"Russia does not abandon its repressive policy against representatives of the indigenous people of Crimea – the Crimean Tatars. All accusations against the citizens of Ukraine are far-fetched and have politically motivated grounds, and the sentences are illegal," Lubinets said.

The Ukrainian ombudsman also said International Humanitarian Law prohibits Russia from applying its criminal law in the occupied territory.