The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its resolute protest on banning the Member of the Parliament of Ukraine, Member of the Permanent Delegation of Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Envoy of the President of Ukraine for peace settlement in Donbas, representative of Ukraine in the working subgroup on humanitarian issues of the Trilateral Contact Group Iryna Gerashchenko from entering the territory of the Russian Federation.

By not allowing Iryna Gerashchenko to participate in the court hearing on the trumped-up Nadiya Savchenko’s case, Russian authorities have purposefully created artificial obstacles for the representative of Ukraine in the humanitarian working subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group in carrying out her direct functions.

This step of the Russian authorities is another flagrant violation of Russia’s obligations under the Minsk agreements on the release of hostages and illegally detained persons, in particular p.5 of the Minsk Protocol of 5 September, 2014 as well as p.6 of the Package of Measures, which was approved by the Heads of State and Government in Normandy format, including Russia, on 12th February, 2015 and confirmed by the UN Security Council Resolution 2202 (2015).

The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine demands that the Russian side cancel this ban immediately and take all necessary measures to avoid any further provocations in respect of relatives, friends and lawyers of Nadiya Savchenko, Ukrainian and foreign journalists, human rights activists, Members of the Parliament of Ukraine as well as other representatives of Ukraine and the international community that are present during the announcement of a verdict.