MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. The number of Russians imprisoned by the Kiev regime is truly shocking, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

Earlier, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Dmitry Polyansky stated that there were hundreds if not thousands of prisoners being held by the Kiev regime like American journalist and blogger Gonzalo Lira who recently died in a Ukrainian prison.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman was asked at a briefing if there were Russians among those prisoners. "Yes, there are," the diplomat replied. "We have received a lot of requests concerning our fellow citizens and compatriots seized by the Kiev regime. Most of these requests are forwarded to the office of Russian Human Rights Ombudsperson Tatyana Moskalkova for consideration. The number is scary; it’s shocking. Unfortunately, it is only growing," she added.

"Literally every day, we urge the international community on all related platforms and through our information resources to do at least something to alleviate the suffering of innocent people whom the Kiev regime blames for its own failures and who are labeled as political undesirables collaborating with the 'aggressor,'" Zakharova said. "There is no justice; these people don’t have access to lawyers, and there is also no possibility for bar associations and international rights institutions to help them," she noted.