The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations (AFUO) has condemned Russia’s detention of Ukrainian scientist Leonid Pshenychnov in September.
Taken into custody in occupied Kerch, Crimea, Pshenychnov has dedicated over 40 years to Antarctic research and the protection of its marine ecosystems.
“His arrest is a blatant violation of human rights and an attempt to silence Ukraine’s voice in global scientific collaboration,” the AFUO said.
Since 1994, Pshenychnov has represented Ukraine at the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR), helping develop environmental standards, including protections for krill, seabirds, and marine mammals.
At this year’s CCAMLR conference in Hobart, Australia, which began on Oct. 20, Pshenychnov was scheduled to present Ukraine’s position on protecting Southern Ocean ecosystems.
On the eve of the event, Russian authorities detained him in Kerch, accusing him of “posing a threat to Russia’s security” due to his participation in international forums as a Ukrainian representative.
“He continued to live in Crimea with a Ukrainian passport because he could not leave his family behind,” Ukraine’s National Antarctic Scientific Center said.
Pshenychnov spent many years at the Southern Scientific Research Institute of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography in Kerch, and since 2015 has worked in Berdiansk and Kyiv.
He was one of the authors of an initiative to establish a new marine protected area near the Antarctic Peninsula and coordinated scientific monitoring of Ukraine’s industrial fishing vessels.
According to National Antarctic Scientific Center Director Yevhen Dykyi, Pshenychnov has become the world’s first “political prisoner of Antarctica” for opposing Russia’s predatory policies in the Southern Ocean.
“Science is not a crime,” the AFUO said, calling for his immediate release.
The scientist recently celebrated his 70th birthday and has health issues, making any delay in his release potentially critical, the center said.
The AFUO urges the international scientific and conservation community to defend the Ukrainian researcher and demand his immediate freedom.
Cover: AFUO on Facebook
