"The Council of Europe Platform for the Protection of Journalists has today published an alert by its partner organizations European Federation of Journalists and International Federation of Journalists on the detention of RIA Novosti journalist Kyrylo Vyshinsky on treason allegations in Ukraine. His arrest came hours before raids by Ukrainian security service (SBU) at the news agency’s offices. The Council of Europe is concerned about the implications that repeated detentions of journalists may have for the situation with media freedom in Ukraine," the statement read.
READ MORE: EU Aware of RIA Novosti Ukraine Journalist Detention
Head of RIA Novosti Ukraine news portal Kirill Vyshinsky was detained in Kiev on Tuesday. On the same day, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) broke into the office of RIA Novosti Ukraine in Kiev.
At the same time, Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the Sputnik news agency, has stated that she thought what was happening in Ukraine was Kiev’s “revenge” for the recently opened Crimea Bridge. She further noted that RIA Novosti Ukraine was not legally linked to Rossiya Segodnya, but was its media partner.
Russia's International News Agency Rossiya Segodnya has launched a Twitter hashtag #TruthNotTreason in support of RIA Novosti Ukraine news portal head Kirill Vyshinsky, arrested in Ukraine.
