On 29 November 2018 the senior officials of the Departments of International Connections and Legal Analysis of the Mission Valeria Pakhomova and Ruslan Seidametov attended the press-conference “Ukrainian Prisoners in Crimea and Geneva Convention”. Pres-conference was held by Anton Korynevytch, the jurist, Docent of International Law of the Institute of International Relations of Taras Shevchenko National University. He outlined the legal status of the Ukrainian sailors who were captured and imprisoned in the occupied Crimea.
Anton Korynevytch qualified actions in the Sea of Azov as the battleship that undoubtedly defines the status of the Ukrainian sailors as the prisoners of war. Basic document defining their status is Geneva Convention (III) relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War and Russia violated its rules by “prosecuting” the sailors. At the press-conference, the rights of the sailors illegally imprisoned by state-aggressor were listed, and it was noted that the state remains free to replace the prisoners of war but at the same time the prisoners must not be kept in prison or remand center. Special premises for their detention should be arranged. The jurist pointed out that above-mentioned act of aggression can be used as the additional evidence in the case of Ukraine vs Russia on the violation of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, considering by the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.