Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its indignation at the decision of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation to refuse to transfer the case of citizens of Ukraine Oleg Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko and their cassational appeals for consideration in the court of cassation.

Ukrainian side once again stresses the illegality and politically committed nature of the sentence of the North Caucasus District Military Court of 25 August 2015 on the illegal imprisonment of Oleg Sentsov and Oleksandr Kolchenko for 20 and 10 years respectively, sentence to be served in a strict regime colony.

Thus we consider this decision of the highest judicial authority of the Russian Federation not only illegal deprivation of Ukrainian prisoners of the right to an objective review of their case in the court of  higher jurisdiction, but the new confirmation of a political order in this case and compromising of  the Russian judiciary as an independent branch of power.

We demand Russia to immediately stop the cynical violation of the rights of our compatriots, release them and ensure their return back to Ukraine.