MOSCOW, February 27. /ITAR-TASS/. Chairman of a Commission on human rights abroad under the Russian Human Rights Council Andrei Yurov is leaving for Crimea on Thursday, he told Itar-Tass.

"Human rights activists believe that the most tense situation has been developing in Crimea now. Therefore, I decided to fly to Crimea rather than Kiev," Yurov said.

Earlier, the Human Rights Council had created a task group to monitor the human rights situation in Ukraine.

On February 9, the Ukrainian authorities denied Yurov a permission to enter Ukraine without any explanations. On February 23 Chairman of the Russian Human Rights Council Mikhail Fedotov declared that the Council would appeal to the Ukrainian authorities, asking to lift the ban. "It is important to continue working to control the human rights situation,” Fedotov said then.

A few days later, the Ukrainian Security Service lifted the entry ban earlier imposed on the Russian human rights activist.