russia officially confirms holding human rights activist Maksym Butkevych captive
The Ministry of Defense of russia confirmed holding human rights activist and Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier Maksym Butkevych as prisoner. He is currently in the temporarily occupied territory of Luhansk oblast.
Suspilne reports this, citing russian human rights activist Pavel Chikov.
"The Ministry of Defense of the russian federation has confirmed that Ukrainian human rights activist Maksym Butkevych was in the territory of the self-proclaimed 'LPR.' The state of his health is satisfactory, as was stated in the response to his lawyer Leonid Solovyov's request," Chikov said.
The activist's mother Yevheniya Butkevych told Suspilne that she had received confirmation that her son is alive and in captivity. Maksym had a meeting with a human rights representative, where he was given the opportunity to call his relatives, but he could not remember the mobile phone number, so no call was made.
russian propaganda has published several stories accusing Butkevych and calling him a "propagandist," a "Nazi," and a "punitive squad commander."
Photo: Pavel Chikov
As IMI reported, in June, human rights activist, journalist, and co-founder of ZMINA human rights center and NGO "Hromadske Radio" Maksym Butkevych has been taken prisoner by the russians near the captured Zolote and Hirske villages in Luhansk region.
russian propagandists announced the capture of Butkevych on June 24, publishing a video of his interrogation.
Maksym Butkevych is a Ukrainian human rights activist and journalist. Coordinator and co-founder of the "Without Borders" project, aimed at helping asylum seekers and Ukrainian immigrants and countering hate speech. Co-founder of ZMINA human rights center and Hromadske Radio. Previously, he worked for the BBC World Service and a number of all-Ukrainian TV channels, has been a guest lecturer at NaUKMA for several years, and was also a board member of Amnesty International's Ukrainian representative office and the community council under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
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