Sentsov's health deteriorating, lawyer says:
By RFE/RL
The health of jailed Ukrainian film director Oleh Sentsov, who has been on hunger strike for almost 40 days in a Russian penal colony, is deteriorating, his lawyer says.
Dmitry Dinze told RFE/RL on June 22 that Sentsov had lost almost 15 kilograms since he started the hunger strike on May 14, and is experiencing problems with his heart and kidneys.
According to Dinze, Sentsov's condition abruptly deteriorated on the 26th day of his hunger strike, and the administration of the penal colony in far-northern Yamalo-Nenets region had rushed him to a local hospital.
Dinze said one of the hospital's doctors initially recommended treatment for the patient, including feeding him through an IV drip.
"But after he realized who had been brought [in], he...retracted his recommendations...and Sentsov was returned to the penal colony," Dinze said.
The 41-year-old Sentsov, a vocal opponent of Russia's 2014 annexation of Crimea, was sentenced in 2015 to 20 years for conspiracy to commit terror acts.
A native of Crimea, Sentsov and human rights groups say the charges were politically motivated. On May 14, he began a hunger strike, demanding the release of 64 Ukrainian citizens he considers political prisoners.
Western governments and rights organizations have called for Sentsov to be released, and the Russian human rights group Memorial considers him to be a political prisoner.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (click to enlarge):
U.S. lawmakers urge officials to eye sanctions against Yevtushenkov:
By RFE/RL
Two U.S. lawmakers have urged U.S. President Donald Trump's administration to consider hitting Russian billionaire Vladimir Yevtushenkov with sanctions and examine whether he has engaged in corruption.
Representatives Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican-Florida), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and Mark Walker (Republican-North Carolina) made the request in a letter to U.S. Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that was made public on June 21.
The letter, dated May 16, calls on Mnuchin and Pompeo to "take immediate action to determine" whether Yevtushenkov should face punitive measures.
"We urge the Department of the Treasury and the Department of State...to promptly investigate Vladimir Yevtushenkov, AFK Sistema holding company, and Mobile TeleSystems, and if merited, to sanction them as authorized" under U.S. laws and regulations, the letter said.
The letter cites Russian President Vladimir Putin's statement in October 2016 that Yevtushenkov's holding company, AFK Sistema, would build medical facilities in Crimea, the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula seized by Russia in 2014.
AFK Sistema controls Russia's largest mobile-phone operator, MTS, which is traded on the New York Stock Exchange. The lawmakers' letter also cites a U.S. corruption probe involving MTS activities in Uzbekistan.
Yevtushenkov is among the dozens of Russian tycoons that the Treasury Department says gained wealth or power through association with Putin -- some of whom were hit with sanctions in April.
But he has also publicly clashed with Russian authorities. In 2014, Yevtushenkov was arrested and charged with money laundering in connection with the acquisition of the regional oil firm Bashneft.
Sistema's stake in Bashneft was seized by authorities and later bought by state oil giant Rosneft, which is led by close Putin ally Igor Sechin.
The charges, which Yevtushenkov called an "act of intimidation," were dropped. (w/Reuters)