Lubinets: 219 Crimean political prisoners remain in Russian prisons

As of today, 219 Crimean political prisoners remain in Russian prisons.

Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said this on Ukrainian television, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

“According to our data, there are 219 Crimean political prisoners. We have a separate brief that we have developed together with our colleagues, the Permanent Mission of the President of Ukraine in Crimea. We use these materials to draw attention to the illegal detention of citizens on the territory of temporarily occupied Crimea,” the Ombudsman said.

At the same time, he stated that the Russian side “does not want to raise the issue of the return of political prisoners at all”.

As reported by Ukrinform, on September 13, 49 Ukrainians were returned from Russian captivity. Among those freed is a Crimean Tatar activist, Leniye Umerova, who was captured by Russians while crossing the border of Georgia.