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Russia Calls for Immediate Release of RIA Novosti Ukraine Head Vyshinsky

© REUTERS / StringerJournalist Kirill Vyshinsky, the director of Russian state news agency RIA Novosti Ukraine, attends a preliminary court hearing in Kherson, Ukraine May 17, 2018
Journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, the director of Russian state news agency RIA Novosti Ukraine, attends a preliminary court hearing in Kherson, Ukraine May 17, 2018 - Sputnik International
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Moscow is urging Kiev to immediately release the head of RIA Novosti Ukraine Kirill Vyshinsky and drop all charges against him, the Department of Information and Press of the Russian MFA said in a statement.

"We demand that Vyshinsky be immediately released and that all charges be dropped," the statement read.

Vyshinsky had earlier renounced Ukrainian citizenship. According to the Ukrainian security service, the journalist also has Russian citizenship.

Vyshinsky's lawyer has said that petition on renunciation of citizenship will be submitted to the Ukrainian president’s administration on Monday.

READ MORE: Kirill Vyshinsky Says Trial in Ukraine Resembles 'Torture,' Asks Putin for Help

Journalist Kirill Vyshinsky, the director of Russian state news agency RIA Novosti Ukraine, attends a preliminary court hearing in Kherson, Ukraine May 17, 2018 - Sputnik International
Russian Human Rights Council Urges to Pay Attention to Journalists in Ukraine
On May 15, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) broke into the office of the RIA Novosti Ukraine in Kiev. Vyshinsky was detained on charges of treason on the same day. The SBU accuses him of supporting the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's southeast. On May 17, a court in the Ukrainian city of Kherson ruled to arrest Vyshinsky.

Rossiya Segodnya Director General Dmitry Kiselev has demanded that the Ukrainian authorities free Vyshinsky immediately and end their persecution of the media. Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of Rossiya Segodnya news agency and RT broadcaster, 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.

Moscow Urges Proper Int'l Reaction to SBU Attempt to Recruit RIA Novosti Correspondent

The Russian Foreign Ministry has also called on the international community on Sunday to react properly to the attempt of the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) to recruit RIA Novosti correspondent Irina Vysokovich.

"We are calling on the international institutions and community to react properly to the situation around I. Vysokovich," the statement read.

READ MORE: Ukraine's Security Service Tried to Recruit Journalist Covering Vyshinsky Trial

Vysokovich, a Ukrainian citizen, who has been covering the trial of RIA Novosti Ukraine news website head Kirill Vyshinsky, said on Saturday that the SBU had tried to recruit her, forcing to sign a document on her readiness to cooperate with the security service and provide information about the employees of the media outlet.

Rossiya Segodnya International Information Agency’s Director General Dmitry Kiselev called the SBU attempt to recruit the RIA Novosti correspondent yet another example of Kiev’s s disrespectful attitude to journalists.

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