The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its resolute protest over the beginning of the trial in Russia in the case of the Crimean Muslims - citizens of Ukraine Rustem Vaitov, Ferat Sayfullayev, Yurii Primov and Ruslan Zeytullayev, who were illegally detained on the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea and moved out to the Russian Federation against their will.

Against a background of the illegal ban of the Crimean Tatars Mejlis activity we consider such actions of the Russian authorities as the additional evidence of political repressions, systematically used by occupants against our compatriots.

All the circumstances of this case indicate that the trial, which has begun on June 1 in Rostov-on-Don in the North Caucasus District Military Court, becomes another demonstrative trial over illegally detained Ukrainians.

We demand from the Russian Federation immediately to stop this obvious farce and to release all citizens of Ukraine who are illegally detained in Russia.

We call on the international community to ramp up political and diplomatic pressure on the Russian Federation to prevent flagrant violation of human rights and freedoms by it, hostages of which became scores of Ukrainian citizens.