Poroshenko asks Putin to free Ukrainian political prisoners: Kiev

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko today asked Russian leader Vladimir Putin to free hunger-striking filmmaker Oleg Sentsov and other Ukrainian political prisoners, Kiev said.

"Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stressed the importance of the release as soon as possible of Ukrainian political prisoners being held in Russia and occupied territories," Poroshenko said in an apparent reference to the annexed peninsula of Crimea.