MOSCOW, April 3 (RAPSI) – Russia’s ombudsman Tatiana Moskalkova and Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights Dunja Mijatović visited Ukrainian sailors charged with illegal border crossing in the Kerch Strait in a Moscow detention center on Wednesday, the ombudsman’s press service told RAPSI. 

Earlier on Wednesday, Moskalkova met Mijatović in her Moscow office. They discussed the work of Russia’s human rights institution, nature of complaints filed with her office and mechanism of the violated rights restoration in Russia. A special focus was on the strengthening of humanitarian cooperation.

On November 25, Russian border guard officers had to engage a weapon to stop unwarranted maneuvers of three Ukrainian ships in Russia’s territorial waters in the area of Kerch Strait. The ships were seized while 24 crew members were arrested. Three sailors were wounded.   

Simferopol and Kerch courts ruled the sailors be detained. On November 30, all of them were transferred to Moscow.