MOSCOW, December 5. /TASS/. The chairman of the State Duma’s International Affairs Committee, Leonid Slutsky has slammed as "political revenge" and "hunt for Crimeans" the Ukrainian security service SBU’s detention of a member of the Sevastopol regional chapter of the United Russia party, Igor Kucheryavy.

"The SBU’s detention of United Russia member Igor Kucheryavy is an act of political revenge. Kiev continues to hunt Crimeans who refused to recognize the anti-constitutional coup of 2014 and obey the bloody junta of [Ukraine’s ex-president Pyotr] Poroshenko," Slutsky wrote in his telegram channel.

He recalled that criminal cases had been opened over Crimea’s reunification with Russia against 6,000 Russian citizens residing in the peninsula, as follows from what Kirill Vyshinsky said after his release from political imprisonment in Ukraine at a meeting of the International Affairs Committee on November 22 devoted to the protection of Russians abroad.

"This is a real problem," Slutsky said.

He promised that the State Duma would keep a close watch on the situation following Kucheryavy’s detention and was ready to "provide all necessary assistance through parliamentary contacts."

The SBU declared Kucheryavy’s detention on Wednesday. On Thursday human rights commissioner in Sevastopol Pavel Butsai informed that Kucheryavy according to his wife had been released. TASS has obtained no official confirmation of this from the law enforcement yet.

The website of the Sevastopol chapter of the United Russia party says that Kucheryavy is a member of the regional political council of the Sevastopol chapter of the United Russia party and coordinator of the Safe Projects in Sevastopol. The party's office told TASS it was making its own inquiries concerning Kucheryavy’s reported detention.