Odesa regional TCC tells what it did to political prisoner Kolomiets

Released from imprisonment in Russia, where he spent 10 years in prison, Euromaidan activist Andriy Kolomiets, upon his return to Ukraine, was taken to the Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support in Odesa Oblast.

According to the press service of the Odesa Regional TCC and JV, they did not exert any coercion or pressure on Andriy Kolomiets during the visit.

"All actions were carried out exclusively within the framework of the current legislation. After completing all the necessary procedures, citizen Andriy Kolomiets continued his trip," the TCC said.

They emphasized that Andriy Kolomiyets has the right to defer military service as a civilian who was held in Russian captivity and can be called up for military service only with his own consent.

The fact that Andriy Kolomiets ended up in the TCC after crossing the border of Ukraine in Odesa region was reported by Olga Skrypnyk, the head of the board of the Crimean Human Rights Group (CHRG). Later, the Graty media outlet reported that Andriy Kolomiets was released from the detention center after checking his documents and is now on his way home.

On July 8, it was reported that Euromaidan activist Andriy Kolomiets was being held at the Verkhnyi Lars checkpoint on the Russian-Georgian border in North Ossetia. He complained about the poor conditions of detention.

On January 15, 2025, Kolomiets was released from the colony in Krasnodar, Russia. Immediately afterward, he was detained and transferred to the Center for the Temporary Detention of Foreign Citizens of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs Department in the Gulkevichi district. The next day, a Russian court ruled that Kolomiets be placed in the Center for the Temporary Detention of Foreign Citizens until April 14.

The man was detained in Nalchik, Kabardino-Balkaria, in May 2015. Kolomiets was accused of illegal possession of drugs. According to his wife, the security forces deliberately planted a bag of marijuana. The man pleaded guilty, but later recanted his testimony, saying that he had been tortured with electric shock. Later, another charge was added - attempted assault on a law enforcement officer.

The case was heard in one of the courts of the temporarily occupied Simferopol, where two former police officers from the Berkut unit, who now serve in the Russian police, live. The Investigative Committee stated that Andriy Kolomiets tried to kill them on the Maidan, throwing Molotov cocktails. According to the lawyer, the prosecution's evidence includes only two black-and-white photographs of the burnt uniforms of the security forces.

In the fall of 2016, the Supreme Court of Crimea rejected the appeal and the lawyers filed a complaint with the European Court of Human Rights. The complaint alleges violations of several articles of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights. In 2019, the Consul of Ukraine in Rostov-on-Don Taras Malyshevsky said that Kolomiets was being held in a colony in Krasnodar, where the conditions of detention are the most severe compared to other colonies where Ukrainian political prisoners are held.

On September 21, 2021, Andriy Kolomiets sent a letter through his wife thanking her for her support, but noting that he no longer hopes for an exchange.

Кирило Бойко