Kidnapped Ukrainian Pavlo Gryb’s Health Deteriorating In Pretrial Detention

20 November 2017 17:39

Ukrainian teenager Pavlo Gryb’s health is deteriorating in pretrial detention in the Russian city of Krasnodar, where he is being held on terrorism charges, according to his father Ihor Gryb.

Ukrainian consuls visited Pavlo Gryb in detention, but were given only seven minutes to speak with him, Ihor Gryb wrote in a Facebook post. “Speaking Ukrainian was forbidden. Medicines were forbidden. Pavlo did not take his hood off. His body was covered in ulcers. His health is deteriorating.”

Pavlo Gryb suffers from portal hypertension, a chronic illness that affects the function of his organs, raising concerns about how he will hold up in jail.

Ukrainian doctors have tried to visit Gryb at the pretrial detention center where he is being held in Krasnodar. However, Russian law enforcement officials did not allow them access to Gryb.

In October, Facebook users launched a flash mob, calling for the Russian authorities to allow Gryb access to doctors.

Pavlo Gryb disappeared in August while meeting an online female friend in Belarus. His story came to public attention after Ihor Gryb, a former Ukrainian border guard, alleged on Facebook that the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) had used the girl to lure Pavlo across the border and abduct him.

That claim proved largely correct after Pavlo resurfaced in September in Russian detention. He stands accused of “abetting terrorist activities” in Russia.

/By Matthew Kupfer