Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov held in Russian Arctic prison enters day 100 of hunger strike
Stars including Pedro Almodóvar and Johnny Depp have called for Sentsov’s release, along with Western governments led by French President Emmanuel Macron
Ukrainian filmmaker Oleg Sentsov on Tuesday entered day 100 of his hunger strike, as he languishes in a Russian Arctic prison on terror charges with little hope of release.
The 42-year-old Kremlin opponent announced the hunger strike in May, demanding the release of all Ukrainian political prisoners being held in Russia.
But Russian authorities seem as far from freeing him or his countrymen as ever, despite a dramatic decline in his health and pressure from the West.
Sentsov’s cousin said last week Sentsov was “losing hope” and had said in a recent letter he felt the “end is near”.
“In his letter, he wrote to me that we mustn’t tell him any more that freedom is coming. He doesn’t believe it any more,” Natalia Kaplan said.
“He has a very weak heartbeat of 40 beats per minute. He complains that his heart hurts, that he’s weak, and he tries not to get up too often to preserve his strength,” she said.