Suspicions of promoting "occupation": what is known about the detention in Ukraine of a member of the Sevastopol branch of EP

A member of the Sevastopol regional branch of United Russia, Igor Kucheryavyi, who was detained in the Kherson region of Ukraine, was released. This was reported to RIA Novosti by the Commissioner for Human Rights in Sevastopol Pavel Butsai. According to him, it is not known whether Kucheryavy was released on bail or in connection with the termination of the persecution.

“His relatives in Sevastopol informed me that he was released yesterday,” he said.

This information was also confirmed by RT First Deputy Speaker of the Crimean Parliament Yefim Fix. According to him, the Ukrainian intelligence services artificially aggravate tensions between the countries.

“We do not detain anyone, we detain only those who cause harm and damage to our state: engaged in espionage activities and so on. Here a man went to solve some of his personal issues. He is not a deputy, he is not a politician, he is simply a member of the party. He just went to resolve issues. And here you need to miss? What to grab? Why, what purpose? All this is wrong, ”he said.

In the United Russia party, the detention of Kucheryavy was called "another provocation of the Ukrainian security forces," emphasizing that this happened repeatedly.

On the eve of the SBU website there was news that Igor Kucheryavy, an “active supporter of the annexation” of the Crimean Peninsula, was detained on the Russian-Ukrainian border. According to the Ukrainian intelligence service, a member of the Sevastopol regional branch of the United Russia party planned to obtain a Ukrainian passport.

“Curly-haired is known for its anti-Ukrainian position. In 2014, as a member of the public organization "Autocanal of Sevastopol", the man actively contributed to the Russian occupation of the Crimean peninsula. In particular, he was involved in the organization of roadblocks in Sevastopol and the protection of public order, ”the SBU said.

• Screenshot of the website of the security service of Ukraine
• © Security Service of Ukraine

Criminal proceedings were opened at Kucheryavyi within the framework of Part 1 of Art. 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine ("Infringement on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine").

At the same time, later the Interfax-Ukraine agency, citing the SBU press center, reported that the man was not legally detained, he lives in a hotel in Kherson, and also went to cooperate with the investigation.

Meanwhile, the founder of the Asker national battalion and the organizer of the energy blockade of the Crimea, Lenur Islyamov, on December 3, on his Facebook page, said that Kucheryavyy arrived in Ukraine through the Kalanchak checkpoint to “receive a Ukrainian passport”.

According to Kommersant, 40-year-old Igor Kucheryavyy heads an agency in Sevastopol that helps sailors with employment.

In February 2018, the website of the Russian Ministry of Defense indicated that he was an assistant to the State Duma deputy from Sevastopol of the seventh convocation Dmitry Belik. Later, in a material on the website of United Russia on February 22, 2019, it was reported that Kucheryavy was a member of the regional political council of the Sevastopol branch of the party.

“Still very far from the settlement of Russian-Ukrainian relations”

As the Senator from the Crimea Sergey Tsekov noted in a conversation with RT xlen of the Federation Council committee on international affairs, the situation with Kucheryav suggests that trips to Ukraine may be unsafe for Russians.

“I urge members of all parties, not only United Russia, which are sent to the territory of Ukraine, to remember this - that they can turn on some kind of repressive mechanism,” the senator emphasized.

According to the State Duma deputy from the Crimea Ruslan Balbek, the detention of a member of the Sevastopol branch of "United Russia" is an exclusively "propaganda and disgusting step" of the Ukrainian intelligence services.

“The fact that the fighters of Lenur Islyamov delivered Igor Kucheryavy to the SBU building suggests that the authorities are either not able to curb outright bandits, or use them as a ram for political provocations. In addition to some muffled accusation of supposedly separatism and undermining the territorial integrity of Ukraine, they could not show anything else, ”the parliamentarian said in an interview with RT.

The head of the working group on international legal issues at the Permanent Mission of Crimea to the President of the Russian Federation, Alexander Molokhov, called the behavior of Igor Kucheryavy irresponsible. According to him, the detention only confirms that "it is still very far from the settlement of Russian-Ukrainian relations."

“This is another provocation, and such facts can only cause regret. This once again reminds the residents of Sevastopol and Crimea that Ukraine today is for them an unsafe place to visit. You have to think a hundred times before you go there, and you don’t need to leave without emergency, especially to people who occupy some positions and have actively shown themselves. This is very dangerous and fraught, ”RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.