Ukrainian sailors were pardoned before Zelensky’s visit to Georgia

Ukrainian sailors detained for illegally crossing Georgian territorial waters have been released on pardon, Khatia Dekanoidze, a member of the United National Movement, told the Courier.

The release of the sailors was reportedly made with the direct involvement of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who is arriving in Batumi today to attend a conference.
No official comment on the issue of pardon has been made by the administration of the President of Georgia so far, however, the information is confirmed by the President of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky wrote about this on Twitter.

“Since November 2020, we have been working for the release of Ukrainian sailors detained in Georgia, Yuri Khomich and Volodymyr Dyachenko. Today, Georgia released them from prison. I am grateful to the Georgian side for this decision, which is in line with the spirit of strategic partnership between our countries.”

<blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”><p lang=”uk” dir=”ltr”>З листопада 2020-го ми працювали над звільненням українських яхтсменів Юрія Хомича й Володимира Дьяченка, затриманих у Грузії. Сьогодні Грузія звільнила їх з-за ґрат. Я вдячний грузинській стороні за це рішення, яке відповідає духу стратегічного партнерства між нашими країнами.</p>&mdash; Володимир Зеленський (@ZelenskyyUa) <a href=”https://twitter.com/ZelenskyyUa/status/1417015214797635585?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>July 19, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src=”https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″></script>

Two Ukrainian citizens, Volodymyr Dyachenko and Yuri Khomich, as well as Mikheil Baturin, a former member of Mikheil Saakashvili’s bodyguards, were detained on November 28 on charges of illegally crossing the border. On July 14, the Batumi City Court sentenced them to four years in prison.