Ukraine protests Russia's jailing of member of Greenpeace ship's crew
KYIV. Sept 30 (Interfax) - Ukraine has protested Russia's jailing of a Ukrainian member of the crew of Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise.
"Today the Russian charge d'affaires has been invited to the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was handed a note in connection with the detention of a Ukrainian national, Ruslan Yakushev, who is a member of the crew of the ship Arctic Sunrise," ministry spokesman Yevhen Perebiynis told Interfax.
In the note the ministry expressed anxiety at the rejection by a court in Murmansk of an appeal from Yakushev's defense and the Ukrainian Consulate in St. Petersburg for his release from custody because of his health condition, Perebiynis said.
Moreover, Yakushev is a technical crewmember and was not directly involved in acts that explain the seizure of Arctic Sunrise by Russian coast guards and the arrest of its crew, the spokesman said in reference to an attempt by some of the crew members to climb the Prirazlomnaya oil platform in the Pechora Sea. Ukraine wants Russian authorities to take this into account, Perebiynis said.
The spokesman said that Yakushev's defense and the Ukrainian Consulate in St. Petersburg planned to file an appeal on Tuesday against the Murmansk court's ruling.
