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Vyshinsky's Lawyers Send Request to Strip Client of Ukrainian Citizenship

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Andrei Domansky, the lawyer for RIA Novosti Ukraine portal head Kirill Vyshinsky, said Monday that his legal team had requested the administration of Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to strip their client of his Ukrainian citizenship.
Sputnik

"We have sent such a request," Domansky said as quoted by the Rossiya 1 broadcaster.

The lawyer added that, at the same time, Vyshinsky's legal team had not received a confirmation that the request had been received by the president's office.

READ MORE: Criminal Case Opened in Ukraine After Vyshinsky's Apartment Robbery — Lawyer

On May 15, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) broke into the office of RIA Novosti Ukraine in Kiev. Vyshinsky was detained on charges of treason that same day. The SBU has also accused him of supporting the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Luhansk in Ukraine's southeast.

Two days later, a court in the Ukrainian city of Kherson ruled to arrest Vyshinsky. During the hearings, Vyshinsky asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to do his utmost to secure his speedy release and asked Poroshenko to have his Ukrainian citizenship renounced.

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Sputnik International Information Agency Director General Dmitry Kiselev has demanded that the Ukrainian authorities free Vyshinsky immediately and end their persecution of media.  The Russian Foreign Ministry classified Kiev's actions against RIA Novosti Ukraine as an "outrage." 

The situation with Vyshinsky's detention has also drawn the attention of international organizations. Harlem Desir, the representative on media freedom of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), has expressed his concern over the SBU's actions and pledged to follow the developments surrounding Vyshinsky's arrest.

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