The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has increased the number of employees of the Ministry for Temporary Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons by five people to create the department for the protection of the rights of political prisoners in Crimea and in the uncontrolled territory in Donbas.
According to resolution No. 894 of Nov. 10, the new department will take measures to protect and ensure the rights and interests of persons deprived of their personal freedom as a result of the actions of illegal armed groups or the Russian authorities in the uncontrolled territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where the state authorities temporarily do not exercise their powers, and in the temporarily occupied territory of Crimea, the support of these individuals and their families, including legal support, as well as the coordination of the activities of public authorities on specified issues.
The statement attached to the resolution says that the creation of such a structural unit is necessary and caused by the fact that the ongoing armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, as well as Russia’s occupation of Crimea, leads, among other things, to numerous facts of imprisonment of Ukrainian citizens by illegal armed groups and the authorities of the aggressor country.
“Providing support and assistance to citizens who find themselves in such a situation is one of the priorities of the Ukrainian state,” the document says.
