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KERCH STRAIT PROVOCATION

Crimea's ombudsperson dismisses reports about torture of detained Ukrainian sailors

Human rigths ombudsperson in Crimea Lyudmila Lubina said such reports are fake

Crimea's human rights ombudsperson Lyudmila Lubina Sergei Malgavko/TASS

Crimea's human rights ombudsperson Lyudmila Lubina

© Sergei Malgavko/TASS

SIMFEROPOL, November 28. /TASS/. Human rigths ombudsperson in Crimea Lyudmila Lubina has denied allegations that Ukrainian sailors detained in the Black Sea are being tortured, and that no lawyers were provided for them in court.

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All 24 Ukrainian sailors in custody for illegal border crossing, arrested for two months

Lubina told TASS that the situation is the opposite. She added that detained Ukrainian sailors are held in better conditions than those that exist in Ukraine.

Twenty-four Ukrainians were earlier arrested for two months after they had been detained at Ukrainian Navy's ships that violated the rules of passing through the Kerch Strait from the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov.

"There were wild insinuations from Ukraine - that [Ukrainian sailors] had arms amputated, that six of them are in critical condition, that they are beaten and tortured, that no lawyers are provided for them, and so on. All those issues are in the sphere of my responsibility, so I checked everything. I can tell you that this is another fake from Ukraine. No rights were violated when the suspects were detained, transferred to a remand prison, held in pre-trial detention," Lubina said.

She added that 12 people have already been transferred to a remand prison in Simferopol. "There were put in recently renovated cells, were given new matresses, new clothes, slippers, clothes, hygiene products, food. Starting today they will be fed three times per day. I want to say that these conditions are better that horrible conditions in Ukraine," Lubina noted adding that she visited the detained Ukrainian nationals earlier.

On November 25 three warships of the Ukrainian Navy violated the rules of passage through Russia's territorial waters while en route from the Black Sea to the Azov Sea. The Russian side had to use weapons to compel the ships to stop. Three Ukrainian servicemen were lightly wounded. They received medical assistance. The ships were detained and escorted to the port of Kerch. A criminal case was initiated on border violation charges.

The Russian side described the incident as a provocation. The Ukrainian authorities declared martial law. The EU and NATO called for de-escalation of the situation.

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KERCH STRAIT PROVOCATION

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