Russian officials have been confronted in Hobart over the recent arrest of a Ukrainian scientist who had been scheduled to fly to Tasmania this week for global talks about Antarctica.

Leonid Pshenichnov has for decades represented Ukraine at meetings on the Convention for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) but was recently imprisoned by Russian authorities in the occupied territory of Crimea.

On the opening day of the gathering Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko told delegates that “Russian aggression continues to severely impact Ukraine’s activities in Antarctica, including its participation in CCAMLR”.

“This Commission has long served as a vital international platform for open discussions and decisions regarding the conservation and sust

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