MOSCOW, July 22. /TASS/. Russia’s ombudswoman for human rights, Ella Pamfrilova, has voiced concern over the fate of a resident of the northeast Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, Oleg Novikov, a representative of an organization of disabled who has been arrested on charges of separatism.

"Ella Pamfilova has sent appeals to the UN, the Council of Europe and the Ukrainian parliament’s ombudsman for human rights," her press service said in a report on Wednesday. "It is appended with a petition by a group of Ukrainian politicians who’re asking for assistance in securing a release from custody of Oleg Novikov, the director of the Kharkiv city center of the All-Ukrainian Association of the Disabled Eligible for Working.

"Acting in accordance with the letter as well as the spirit of humanistic values, I cannot leave this appeal unattended," the press release quoted Pamfilova’s address to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein and the Council of Europe Human Rights Commissioner, Nils Muiznieks. "I hope you will find it possible to bring concern of the public inside and outside Ukraine over Oleg V. Novikov’s fate to the attention of the Ukrainian authorities."

"The mandate of Russia’s ombudsman/ombudswoman for human rights does not make it possible to interfere in the affairs of foreign countries," the press service said. "Along with it, the address expresses the hope for mercy on the part of the Ukrainian authorities."

Earlier reports said Novikov, a disabled man who had lost his leg in a car accident several years before that was sentenced by a Ukrainian court to three years in jail in May "for attempting at Ukraine’s territorial integrity."