Car sellers from Moscow crossed the border into Ukraine and asked for political asylum
Ukrainian border guards detained two Russian citizens (a man and a woman) while on patrol after they crossed the Ukrainian border in Sumy Oblast, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
The department's press service reported this .
“The detainees immediately reported that they were spouses and, bypassing Russian checkpoints, were fleeing Russia due to their persecution in the Russian Federation with the aim of obtaining political asylum in Ukraine,” the State Border Guard Service reported.
The detained man stated that he had previously been engaged in selling cars in Moscow, but since 2010 he has closed the business due to “being forced to pay tribute to law enforcement officers, constant threats and artificial barriers.”
“The Russian said that he subsequently created his own Internet page on which he expressed dissatisfaction with the current government of the Russian Federation, spoke negatively about the annexation of Crimea and the actions of the Russian Federation in the international arena, and advertised other Russian opposition bloggers. Due to his open dissatisfaction with Russia’s actions, the interviewee and his family members began to receive threats demanding that the published materials be removed. In this regard, they decided, together with their wife, to illegally enter the territory of Ukraine and ask for political asylum,” the statement said.
The detainees claim that the decision to seek political asylum in Ukraine was made due to “respect and provision of fundamental human rights and freedoms in Ukraine.”
Moscow car dealers crossed the border into Ukraine and requested political asylum.