Stanislav Klykh goes on hunger strike in a Russian penal colony

Stanislav Klykh, a citizen of Ukraine, sentenced in Chechnya to 20 years of imprisonment in a penal colony, declared hunger strike. The Ukrainian authorities announced their willingness to exchange prisoners, including Stanislav Klykh, with Russia.

The "Caucasian Knot" reported that on May 26, 2016, the Supreme Court (SC) of Chechnya found Nikolai Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh, citizens of Ukraine, guilty of participating in the first Chechen campaign on the side of militants and sentenced them to 22.5 years and 20 years of imprisonment, respectively.

On June 8, during a meeting of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko with relatives of Ukrainian citizens imprisoned in Russia, a mother of Stanislav Klykh reported that her son had declared hunger strike.

At the meeting, Petro Poroshenko spoke about the possible exchange of prisoners. He has reported that at the meeting of the contact group in Minsk, Irina Geraschenko, the authorized representative of the President of Ukraine for the peaceful settlement of the situation in the Donetsk and Lugansk Regions, formally handed over to Russia a letter with a list of 23 Russian citizens for the extradition in exchange for Ukrainian citizens sentenced in the Russian Federation.

Irina Geraschenko herself has announced the Kiev's willingness to extradite to Russia 23 Russian citizens sentenced in Ukraine in exchange for the release of Ukrainian citizens, including Stanislav Klykh, the TASS reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.