Ukrainian human rights ombudsman comes to Russian penitentiary where Oleh Sentsov is held
KYIV. June 15 (Interfax) - Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada human rights commissioner Lyudmyla Denysova has arrived at the Russian penal colony where Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov is serving his sentence, Denysova's advisor Olena Myachyna told Interfax on Friday.
"The human rights commissioner is now at the penal colony. We are awaiting a meeting with the administration of this penitentiary," she said.
It was reported earlier on Friday that Denysova has arrived in Salekhard.
It was reported that Denysova insisted at talks in Russia on June 14 that she should be allowed to visit Sentsov in prison promptly, not after June 22, as was Moscow's proposal.
The Northern Caucasus District Military Court in Rostov-on-Don sentenced Sentsov, who was detained in Crimea in 2014, to 20 years in a high-security penal colony in August 2015 for an attempt to set up a terrorist group in Crimea.
He is serving his sentence in a high-security correctional facility known as Bely Medved (White Bear) in the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District.
Sentsov went on hunger strike on May 14, demanding the release of all Ukrainian citizens held in Russia.
The Russian Federal Penitentiary Service's branch for the Yamal-Nenets Autonomous District said on May 28 that Sentsov is under medical surveillance and agreed to supportive treatment.