Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they have made any representations to the government of Ukraine about the humanitarian situation in Eastern Ukraine and the role of pro-Kiev volunteers in that region.

The humanitarian situation in Ukraine is regularly raised by British Ministers and officials. Our Ambassador to Ukraine wrote to Prime Minister Yatseniuk on 14 January 2015 to express the UK’s concern about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Ukraine following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and the subsequent unrest in the eastern regions. He underlined UK support towards mitigating the humanitarian impacts of the situation in the Donbas. We are very concerned by reports from organisations such as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and Amnesty International on the actions of certain pro-Kyiv battalions operating in the eastern regions, who have allegedly been involved in abuses including abductions, unlawful detention and ill-treatment. Embassy officials have raised our concerns with the Ukrainian President’s Office and we will continue to call on the Ukrainian authorities to ensure that independent investigations take place into all serious allegations of violations, whether by the pro-Kyiv forces or the separatists.