More than 200 Kremlin critics, including former prisoners of war, expressed anger at the visit of a high-level Moscow delegation to Switzerland, accusing Europe of welcoming "war criminals" despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Opponents of Russian leader Vladimir Putin fear that more than three years after the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, some Western powers and institutions are risking normalizing relations with Moscow.
Through an open letter, signed by former political prisoners such as Vladimir Kara-Murza, Oleg Orlov and Ilya Yashin, they accused Switzerland of hosting Putin's key allies, including the speaker of the Upper House of Parliament, at a time when Russia continues its war on Ukraine.
A delegation led by Valentina Matvienko, speaker of the Upper House of the Russian Parliament, arrived in Geneva on Sunday to participate in a three-day meeting of global parliamentarians that began on Monday.
The delegation also included Pyotr Tolstoy, deputy speaker of the Lower House of Parliament, and Leonid Slutsky, chairman of the chamber's Committee on International Affairs.
Matvienko, Tolstoy and Slutsky are under European Union and international sanctions.
This visit appears to be the highest-level visit to Europe by Russian parliamentarians since the start of the invasion of Ukraine.
"While Geneva hosts war criminals Matvienko, Tolstoy and Slutsky, Russian troops continue to carry out missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. Civilians, children and women are dying," the letter said.
Matvienko, Tolstoy and Slutsky are "key figures of the Putin regime, directly responsible for launching the war of aggression against Ukraine, the destruction of democratic institutions and large-scale persecutions within Russia," the open letter said.
"This participation in international events in Switzerland should be banned and they should be arrested."
The three-day event was organized by the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), an organization of national parliaments, headquartered in Geneva.
Switzerland said that in this case it acted based on international law and agreements.
"As a host country, Switzerland does everything possible to facilitate the work of international organizations headquartered on its territory, and particularly in Geneva," a spokesman for the Swiss Foreign Ministry told AFP.
Swiss authorities may authorize exceptions to travel restrictions, "especially if the person is traveling to attend an international conference," the spokesperson added.
Ukrainian officials have expressed anger over the Russian delegation's participation in the event in Switzerland./ REL (A2 Televizion)
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