It’s finally happened! The European Parliament on April 6 voted to lift visa requirements for Ukrainians wishing to travel to anywhere in the Schengen zone.

Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko has tabled as urgent a draft law which would automatically strip Ukrainians of their citizenship if they voluntarily took on citizenship of another country

Russia’s Supreme Court has upheld the 5-year ban imposed shortly after Russia invaded Crimea preventing Mustafa Dzhemiliev from entering his homeland

Veldar Shukurdzhiyev, a member of the Ukrainian Cultural Centre, has again faced harassment, this time from Russian border guards and FSB officers as he tried to return to Crimea from mainland Ukraine

On Sept. 24, Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers adopted important amendments on entering and leaving areas under occupation with direct impact for foreign journalists and human rights activists, as well as members of international NGOs.

At a time when Russia is flagrantly violating the rights of Ukrainian nationals in Crimea, stifling independent media, arresting those who express their opposition to Russian occupation, it is vital that Ukraine helps human rights groups and foreign journalists to follow the situation, and does not obstruct their access through flawed regulations.

By no means all people in Donbas support the Kremlin-backed militants and Russia, and there is understandably bitter reaction to plans for a total blockade, and the new ban on public transport crossing between areas under militant control and the rest of Ukraine.

Human rights groups have condemned the new rules which Ukraine’s government introduced earlier this month for crossing into and out of Crimea. The restrictions will hit ordinary Ukrainians hard, whereas business interests are continuing to prevent Ukraine exerting economic pressure that could improve the plight of Ukrainians living under occupation

Kharkiv Human Rights Group statement against attempts by military headquarters to require men of mobilization age to receive permission from military recruitment offices for travel outside their administrative districts

At a time when enthusiasm for Russian rule in the Crimea is likely to be on the wane, Ukraine’s temporary transport blockade has aroused panic among ordinary Crimeans, but also bemusement at the excuses given and criticism of an unlawful restriction of people’s rights

In the latest of a number of outrages by the regime in the Crimea under Russian occupation, the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Refat Chubarov thas been prevented from returning to the Crimea following the meeting of the Mejlis in Henychesk, Kherson oblast

The border guards claimed that she didn’t have the right to cross what they called the Russian border since her Ukrainian passport was not valid. They suggested that she ‘resolve the problem’ by getting a Russian passport.

The only positive thing to be said is that the list does not, as reported earlier, include Mustafa Dzhemiliev, now a Ukrainian MP, but also the long-standing head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people and veteran of the movement for the restoration of Crimean Tatar rights

The introduction of named railway tickets and the gathering of information about passengers’ movements infringe the right to privacy. Nobody has informed passengers of such a database, and has not asked for their consent to having data about their travels inserted and retained

Despite vehement protest from human rights organizations, from 21 March it will not be possible to buy a train ticket without providing ones (internal) passport details which will be indicated on the ticket.

The Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union has initiated an open appeal against the Cabinet of Ministers’ plan to bring in a system where people’s (internal) passport details are given on railway tickets

The Ministry of Infrastructure is planning to introduce changes to railway transport, including checks on passports (internal ID documents) both when buying tickets and when boarding a train

Ukrzaliznytsa [Ukrainian Railways] should not only take money from passengers, but also answer for inconvenience caused by the bad quality of services. This was the tenor of an appeal initiated by Maxim Shcherbatyuk, Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union lawyer

In Mykolaiv residents are still fuming over the security measures taken during Yanukovych’s visit to the city on Friday 21 September.

The Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group is seriously concerned by the deepening crisis in the city of Khorog, Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Oblast of Tajikistan, where for the third day the situation remains unstable.