17:51, 23 June 2016

Ukraine requests to extradite Klykh and Karpyuk

Nikolai Karpyuk. Photo: Anton Nayumlyk (RFE/RL)

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) of Ukraine has sent requests to Russia for the extradition of Stanislav Klykh and Nikolai Karpyuk, sentenced on the charge of involvement in the first Chechen war on the side of militants.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on May 26, the Supreme Court of Chechnya sentenced Nikolai Karpyuk to 22.5 years and Stanislav Klykh to 20 years of imprisonment.

According to investigators, Karpyuk and Klykh, being members of the organization named UNA-UNSO (banned in Russia, as its activities were treated as extremist by the court, – note of the "Caucasian Knot"), on December 31, 1994, took part in warfare in Grozny near the railway station and Minutka Square, where they killed at least 30 servicemen and wounded at least 13 others. Karpyuk and Klykh denied their involvement in the conflict in Chechnya and stated that they had been tortured during the investigation.

"Russia still has not responded to the request for the extradition of Ukrainian citizen Nikolai Karpyuk. We expect that now the problem can be solved at the political level," states Natalia Sevostyanova, the deputy head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Justice, as quoted by the "Interfax".

Natalia Sevostyanova has also noted that the procedure of return for the execution of punishment takes much more time than the procedure of exchange. According to the official, that concerns both Nikolai Karpyuk and Stanislav Klykh.

She has also stated that the Ukrainian MoJ has already sent to Russia the appropriate inquiries, the RIA "Novosti" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.