Ukrainian Political Prisoner Stohniy Freed From Russian-Administered Jail
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
A Ukrainian man considered a political prisoner by local rights groups has resurfaced in Kyiv after completing a 3 1/2-year prison sentence in Russian-controlled prisons on charges of making and transporting weapons and explosive devices.
The news of Oleksiy Stohniy’s release was announced on February 19 by human rights ombudswoman Lyudmyla Denisova.
“All these years, our citizen has been kept in intolerable conditions inside places of incarceration by the invading country, which greatly affected his state of health,” she said. “I will urgently take appropriate measures to conduct a highly qualified medical examination and provide the necessary medical care to Oleksiy.”
His wife, Oksana Stohniy, said on Facebook that her husband was released at the end of January but the family didn’t publicize the fact until he safely crossed from Russia-occupied Crimea into mainland Ukraine.
“He is finally home! My beloved husband and best father to our [two] daughters! We waited for the family to be reunited. We are thrilled!” she wrote on Facebook.
Oleksiy Stohniy was arrested on the night of November 14-15, 2016, while trying to cross the administrative border of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula into the mainland portion of the country en route to Kyiv for his daughter’s birthday, according to his wife.
Russia forcibly annexed Crimea in March 2014 following the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Kremlin President Viktor Yanukovych.
He and eight other Ukrainians were initially charged by Russian authorities in Crimea with spying for the Ukrainian Defense Ministry and planning subversive acts.
However, he was sentenced in a closed-door trial on November 17, 2017, for making weapons and explosive devices. He spent part of his prison sentence in a Russian penal colony.
Groups such as the Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group, Crimean Human Rights Group, and the Association of Relatives of Kremlin Political Prisoners considered the charges false and designated Stohniy a political prisoner.
Stohniy had served in the Ukrainian military but resigned in 1997 due to medical issues, Oksana Stohniy said at a news conference in Kyiv in May 2017.
At the time of his arrest, Oleksiy Stohniy was working as a sales clerk in the Crimean port city of Sevastopol.
Ukrainian NGOs said last month that Russia still holds 96 political prisoners, most of whom were detained in Crimea, including 69 Crimean Tatars.
The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said in a statement in late December that it was working toward a third prisoner swap with Russia and was preparing a new list of political prisoners, including Crimeans.
Ukraine and Russia carried out two prisoner swaps last year.
That concludes our live-blogging of the Ukraine crisis for February 19, 2020. Check back here tomorrow for more of our continuing coverage.
Pentagon's Top Policy Official Who Certified Ukraine Aid Steps Down
By RFE/RL
U.S. President Donald Trump said John Rood has left his position as the top policy official at the Defense Department after just two years, the latest in a series of key departures from his administration following the Senate impeachment trial.
“I would like to thank John Rood for his service to our Country, and wish him well in his future endeavors,” Trump said in a tweet on February 19.
Bloomberg News reported earlier in the day, citing anonymous sources, that Rood had faced pressure to resign after officials lost confidence in his ability to carry out the president’s agenda.
Rood, who was appointed undersecretary of defense for policy in January 2018, gave Congress the green light in May to approve $250 million in security assistance to Ukraine, which is fighting Russia-backed forces in its eastern provinces.
The White House at Trump’s behest blocked the aid, a decision that was at the heart of the Democrats’ impeachment trial of the president.
In an e-mail on July 25, Rood warned Defense Secretary Mark Esper not to withhold military aid to Ukraine, where more than 13,000 people have been killed in a six-year war.
The message was sent the same day that Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, thanked Trump during a phone conversation for U.S. military support and said his country was ready to buy more anti-tank weapons.
Trump, a Republican, responded that he would like Zelenskiy to “do us a favor though” and investigate Joe Biden, a political rival, and his son Hunter Biden, who worked for a Ukrainian gas company.
Democrats said Trump’s investigation request amounted to a quid pro quo for military aid and launched an impeachment inquiry.
Trump was acquitted by the Senate on charges of of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress earlier this month.
The president immediately moved to oust officials who had given critical testimony during the impeachment hearings, including Lieutenant Colonel Alex Vindman, the Ukraine adviser at the National Security Council, and Gordon Sondland, the U.S. ambassador to the European Union.