Jailed Ukrainian filmmaker ends hunger strike

Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov, convicted of terrorism in Russia, has stopped his hunger strike, Federal Penitentiary Service Deputy Director Valery Maximenko told TASS.

"Oleg Sentsov has stopped his hunger strike, giving a written statement on that. He has also agreed to start eating. Consultations were held with Moscow’s best nutritionists on ways to rehabilitate him. A special diet has been developed to improve his health condition," Maximenko said.

"I would like to thank all those - our doctors, doctors at the Labytnangi hospital, his defense attorneys - who pooled their efforts to persuade him to make a decision. He has chosen life," the Federal Penitentiary Service deputy director added.

Head of the Russian Presidential Human Rights Council Mikhail Fedotov, in turn, confirmed, that Sentsov had stopped the hunger strike.

"I contacted the Federal Penitentiary Service and was told that Sentsov had stopped the hunger strike. He is now discussing the situation with his lawyers, he wrote a statement in their presence," he told TASS.

Fedotov stressed that now it was important to help Sentsov recover after the hunger strike. "It is very dangerous for a man's health. I hope that doctors who have been monitoring his condition will take all the necessary measures to ensure there is no negative impact on his health," he added.
Sentsov case

On August 25, 2015, Russia’s North Caucasus District Military Court sentenced Oleg Sentsov to 20 years in prison on charges of establishing a terrorist group in Crimea. In the spring of 2014, the group’s members carried two terrorist attacks in the Crimean city of Simferopol, setting on fire the offices of Crimea’s Russian Community organization and the United Russia party’s Crimean branch. According to the investigation, they also planned to carry out other terrorist attacks.

On May 14, Sentsov went on a hunger strike and has remained under medical surveillance since then.