Kiev (AFP) – G7 Ambassadors said Thursday they were deeply concerned about Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, who has been on hunger strike for more than a month as he serves a 20-year term in a Russian prison camp.
“We are deeply concerned about the situation of Oleg Sentsov and other Ukrainian prisoners and detainees in Russia,” the countries’ ambassadors to Kiev said in a joint statement released via Twitter.
“Their release, as part of a broader bilateral exchange of detainees, would be an important humanitarian step forward,” it said.
The US Embassy in Kiev urged Russia to act as the eyes of the international community are on the World Cup host country.
“With the world watching the World Cup, Russia should allow access to all Ukrainian prisoners, including film director Oleg Sentsov, who is in his 2nd month of a hunger strike in a Russian prison,” the embassy tweeted.
The 41-year-old director Sentsov has refused food since May 14 as he demands Moscow release all Ukrainian political prisoners.
Major figures from Russia and abroad have called for Sentsov’s release, including US author Stephen King and Oscar-nominated director Andrei Zvyagintsev.
Sentsov, a pro-Ukrainian activist and documentary director, was detained in Crimea in 2014 after Russia annexed the peninsula on accusations of masterminding arson attacks.
Sentsov denied the allegations but was found guilty on terrorism charges, and is serving a 20-year sentence in Russia’s far north.
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