допрос героя на родине
08/07/2003 | радио одеса
информация:
LtCol Michael A. Humm, USMCR
Press Officer
Defense Press Office, OASD(PA)
Room 2E765, Pentagon
(703) 697-5111
fax: (703) 697-3501
michael.humm@osd.mil
Ukraine Embassy irt this issue is Ms Patricia Guy,
011-380-44-490-4008.
LCDR Danny Hernandez
Navy News Desk
(703) 697-5342
An active-duty U.S. Navy seaman is being held against his will in Ukraine
for unspecified reasons, and neither the Ukrainian or U.S. authorities
appear willing to shed light on the case.
Yaroslav Ivasyuk, who carries both Ukrainian and U.S. passports, was
detained on July 19 after entering the country with his Ukrainian wife,
Svetlana, and five-year-old son, Michael.
Ivasyuk, who was on leave, was taking his family for a vacation in Ukraine.
He had recently returned home to Virginia after a tour of duty in the
Persian Gulf.
It is a violation of Ukrainian law for its citizens to enlist in a foreign
government's military without having first received Ukrainian government
permission.
On Aug. 2, Svetlana Ivasyuk, who was allowed to leave the country last week,
told a television station near the family home in Virginia that State
Security Service (SBU) agents had directly asked her husband to spy for them
after the family entered Ukraine in mid-July.
"On Saturday [July 19] morning they came, took my husband to an office and
questioned him there for five to six hours," Ivasyuk said, adding that a
U.S. maval intelligence officer had cleared the family's visit to Ukraine.
Ivasyuk said the SBU agents wanted to know "where we live, what we do over
here, how did he join the Navy, what kind of job he is doing here."
She also said the agents asked her husband about his last deployment, and
for details about the number of aircraft carried by his ship.
Ivasyuk said SBU agents retained her husband's U.S. passport and other
documents.
"Last week, they said he could have the documents back, but this week they
said that the documents were lost in the mail," Svetlana Ivasyuk said.
The Post contacted Yaroslav Ivasyuk by mobile phone on Aug. 5. He said that
he was in Ivano-Frankivsk, but would not give any further details about his
whereabouts.
"My son and I are fine," Ivasyuk said. "The SBU agents stopped questioning
me last week."
Ivasyuk said that officials recently discovered his documents in an
envelope.
"I am not accompanied by either Ukrainian or American officials anymore,"
Ivasyuk said.
Asked whether he could explain what the matter was about, Ivasyuk repeatedly
answered that he was not at liberty to discuss the incident further.
Ivasyuk is one of 37,000 foreign nationals serving in the U.S. military. He
is a Navy aviation mechanic who specializes in the F/A 18 Hornet, a
sophisticated strike-fighter aircraft.
Ivasyuk enlisted in 2001, and served aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt
aircraft carrier during the Iraq War. The carrier was deployed in the
Persian Gulf from February through May 2003.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Patricia Guy on Aug. 4 refused to comment on
negotiations to release Ivasyuk. Guy confirmed only that "a Ukrainian
citizen and U.S. lawful permanent resident had been detained," and referred
the Post to the U.S. Defense Department.
Defense department spokesman Lt. Colonel Michael Humm referred the Post to
the U.S. Navy, which on Aug. 5 positively identified Yaroslav Ivasyuk as the
individual who had detained.
"We will provide you with information when it becomes available," said Navy
Spokesman Lt. Colonel David Luckett, who re-directed the Post to the U.S.
embassy in Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, said they had received no report of the
incident.
On Aug. 4 the SBU told the Post it had no information about Ivasyuk's
detention or about any negotiations underway to release him.
Then on Aug. 6, SBU spokesman Hryhory Kulivar said that the agency would
neither confirm nor deny that Ivasyuk had been detained and questioned by
SBU officers, but he said that the SBU might comment on the issue in the
coming days.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Markian Lyubkivsky told the Post on Aug. 5 that
he had not been briefed about the case. Lyubkivsky was unavailable for
comment on Aug. 6.
Patty Culhane, a Norfolk Beach, Virginia reporter who broke the story on
Aug. 1, told the Post that though the U.S. Defense Department is aware that
it is illegal for Ukrainians to serve in foreign militaries, an intelligence
officer told Ivasyuk that he would not face problems if he returned to
Ukraine.
Culhane said the Navy now wants Svetlana and Yaroslav Ivasyuk to stop
talking to the media.
Culhane's television station, WAVY, has asked Virginia Senator John Warner,
chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, to investigate and
make public details about Ivasyuk's detention.
U.S. citizens, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter
and leave the United States. Dual nationals from Ukraine may be required to
use a Ukrainian passport to enter Ukraine. Use of a foreign passport does
not jeopardize U.S. citizenship.
LtCol Michael A. Humm, USMCR
Press Officer
Defense Press Office, OASD(PA)
Room 2E765, Pentagon
(703) 697-5111
fax: (703) 697-3501
michael.humm@osd.mil
Ukraine Embassy irt this issue is Ms Patricia Guy,
011-380-44-490-4008.
LCDR Danny Hernandez
Navy News Desk
(703) 697-5342
An active-duty U.S. Navy seaman is being held against his will in Ukraine
for unspecified reasons, and neither the Ukrainian or U.S. authorities
appear willing to shed light on the case.
Yaroslav Ivasyuk, who carries both Ukrainian and U.S. passports, was
detained on July 19 after entering the country with his Ukrainian wife,
Svetlana, and five-year-old son, Michael.
Ivasyuk, who was on leave, was taking his family for a vacation in Ukraine.
He had recently returned home to Virginia after a tour of duty in the
Persian Gulf.
It is a violation of Ukrainian law for its citizens to enlist in a foreign
government's military without having first received Ukrainian government
permission.
On Aug. 2, Svetlana Ivasyuk, who was allowed to leave the country last week,
told a television station near the family home in Virginia that State
Security Service (SBU) agents had directly asked her husband to spy for them
after the family entered Ukraine in mid-July.
"On Saturday [July 19] morning they came, took my husband to an office and
questioned him there for five to six hours," Ivasyuk said, adding that a
U.S. maval intelligence officer had cleared the family's visit to Ukraine.
Ivasyuk said the SBU agents wanted to know "where we live, what we do over
here, how did he join the Navy, what kind of job he is doing here."
She also said the agents asked her husband about his last deployment, and
for details about the number of aircraft carried by his ship.
Ivasyuk said SBU agents retained her husband's U.S. passport and other
documents.
"Last week, they said he could have the documents back, but this week they
said that the documents were lost in the mail," Svetlana Ivasyuk said.
The Post contacted Yaroslav Ivasyuk by mobile phone on Aug. 5. He said that
he was in Ivano-Frankivsk, but would not give any further details about his
whereabouts.
"My son and I are fine," Ivasyuk said. "The SBU agents stopped questioning
me last week."
Ivasyuk said that officials recently discovered his documents in an
envelope.
"I am not accompanied by either Ukrainian or American officials anymore,"
Ivasyuk said.
Asked whether he could explain what the matter was about, Ivasyuk repeatedly
answered that he was not at liberty to discuss the incident further.
Ivasyuk is one of 37,000 foreign nationals serving in the U.S. military. He
is a Navy aviation mechanic who specializes in the F/A 18 Hornet, a
sophisticated strike-fighter aircraft.
Ivasyuk enlisted in 2001, and served aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt
aircraft carrier during the Iraq War. The carrier was deployed in the
Persian Gulf from February through May 2003.
U.S. Embassy spokeswoman Patricia Guy on Aug. 4 refused to comment on
negotiations to release Ivasyuk. Guy confirmed only that "a Ukrainian
citizen and U.S. lawful permanent resident had been detained," and referred
the Post to the U.S. Defense Department.
Defense department spokesman Lt. Colonel Michael Humm referred the Post to
the U.S. Navy, which on Aug. 5 positively identified Yaroslav Ivasyuk as the
individual who had detained.
"We will provide you with information when it becomes available," said Navy
Spokesman Lt. Colonel David Luckett, who re-directed the Post to the U.S.
embassy in Kyiv.
Ukrainian officials, meanwhile, said they had received no report of the
incident.
On Aug. 4 the SBU told the Post it had no information about Ivasyuk's
detention or about any negotiations underway to release him.
Then on Aug. 6, SBU spokesman Hryhory Kulivar said that the agency would
neither confirm nor deny that Ivasyuk had been detained and questioned by
SBU officers, but he said that the SBU might comment on the issue in the
coming days.
Foreign Ministry Spokesman Markian Lyubkivsky told the Post on Aug. 5 that
he had not been briefed about the case. Lyubkivsky was unavailable for
comment on Aug. 6.
Patty Culhane, a Norfolk Beach, Virginia reporter who broke the story on
Aug. 1, told the Post that though the U.S. Defense Department is aware that
it is illegal for Ukrainians to serve in foreign militaries, an intelligence
officer told Ivasyuk that he would not face problems if he returned to
Ukraine.
Culhane said the Navy now wants Svetlana and Yaroslav Ivasyuk to stop
talking to the media.
Culhane's television station, WAVY, has asked Virginia Senator John Warner,
chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, to investigate and
make public details about Ivasyuk's detention.
U.S. citizens, including dual nationals, must use a U.S. passport to enter
and leave the United States. Dual nationals from Ukraine may be required to
use a Ukrainian passport to enter Ukraine. Use of a foreign passport does
not jeopardize U.S. citizenship.