Sentsov, Bundestag deputies discuss prisoners of war

Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov has met with German Bundestag deputies and human rights activists to emphasize the importance of keeping in pace the pressure on Russia so as to release all political prisoners of the Kremlin, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.
"I'm not building plans for the far future. I have goals. One of them is the freedom and independence of my country in the broad sense of the word. More specifically, it is the release of our prisoners staying in Russian prisons and in Donbas. This is a community service that I am doing now. I can no longer leave it because life has taken me here. I cannot retreat from this place because I feel a moral responsibility, because they spoke a lot about me, they helped free me so I must help others. I cannot let many people down," Sentsov said at a meeting with the chairman of the inter-parliamentary friendship group with Ukraine, Omid Nouripour, in Berlin on Thursday.

He also said that he was also going to go back to cinematography and shoot his own films.

Deputies Manuel Sarrazin and Frank Schwabe were present at the meeting with Sentsov and human rights activists from several countries.

"Oleg Sentsov stressed that now it is necessary to talk about the release of other political prisoners, both Ukrainians and Russians," Sarrazin told reporters after the meeting.

He called his personal acquaintance with Sentsov "very moving" and recalled when, during the World Cup in Russia, he learned about his hunger strike.

"I thought Oleg would die. I did not believe that we would ever see him at large. So it was very touching for me to shake his hand and talk to him. He radiates so much positive energy and so much straightforwardness that this meeting left a very deep impression," the MP said.

On the same day, Sentsov met with officials of the German Federal Chancellery and the government envoy for cooperation with Russia, Central Asia and the Eastern Partnership countries.