Foreign Ministry: Discrimination of Ukrainians became constant in Russia

Ukraine's Foreign Ministry says violation of rights of Ukrainian citizens in Russia has acquired "a systematic and discriminatory nature." Kyiv also accused Moscow of being partial to hostages.

As reported by Censor.NET, the official statement of Kyiv was provoked by Yessentuki City Court's decision to extend imprisonment of the Ukrainian Stanyslav Klykh until Oct. 21, 2015. Ukrainian diplomats called the man Russia's hostage. "This groundless and wrongful judgment once again confirmed the unwillingness of the Russian Federation to comply with certain measures under the Minsk agreements to release all hostages and those illegally detained following the principle "all for all"," the ministry said.

Kyiv was even more dissatisfied by Moscow's failure to keep its promise of unhindered access of the Ukrainian consul to Klykh. According to diplomats, Russian security forces do not allow him to meet with Ukrainian representative. Ukraine has put forward a number of demands toward Russia including impartial consideration of Klykh's case, official announcement of place and conditions of his confinement, immediate access of Ukrainian diplomats to the hostage and punishing of those responsible for violating the rights of the Ukrainian.

"Behaving this way, the Russian side should realize that under these conditions Ukraine reserves the right to respond adequately," the Foreign Ministry stated without specifying the potential consequences for Moscow. In June, the head of the Russian Foreign Ministry afforded an outburst toward Ukraine. "The West has become a hostage of the current Ukrainian authorities failing to fulfill the Minsk agreements," the diplomat said.