Kyiv Court of Appeals on Aug. 28 released Kirill Vyshynsky, ex-chief editor of Ria Novosti Ukraine, a local office of the Russian state-owned news agency.
Ukrainian authorities suspect Vyshynsky of treason. He has been in pre-trial detention since May 15, 2018, until the appeal court overturned his arrest.
Vyshynsky must appear in court at the first request and report on residence changes but he isn’t under home arrest and can travel.
Apart from treason, the former editor is charged with separatism and illegal storage of weapons. A citizen of both Ukraine and Russia, Vyshynsky is accused of being paid by the Russian government to publish anti-Ukrainian stories.
Vyshynsky denies all accusations and calls the case politically motivated.
“Finally, the court ruled in my favor,” said Vyshynsky after the court hearing.
He said he connected the favorable ruling with the fact that Volodymyr Zelensky replaced Petro Poroshenko as Ukraine’s president. Compared to Zelensky, Poroshenko had a more pronounced anti-Russian rhetoric.
If Vyshynsky is found guilty, he could go to prison for up to 15 years.
But the ex-editor might not stay in Ukraine for the trial after all.
His release from under arrest took place amid the preparations for a long-anticipated, biggest-ever prisoner exchange between Ukraine and Russia.
Zelensky said on Aug. 23 that he’s hoping the first results on political prisoners exchange will come in the next several days, the Kyiv Post reported. On the day of Vyshynsky’s arrest, however, a lawyer representing the Russian citizens jailed in Ukraine said that the exchange could be postponed.
Vyshynsky previously said he didn’t want to be on the exchange list. He repeated it when exiting the courtroom after being released.
But Larysa Sargan, the spokesperson of Prosecutor General Yuriy Lutsenko, said later that Vyshynsky’s release was part of the exchange process. Vyshynsky couldn’t be reached for comment.
Back in July, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Vyshynsky’s release would be a sign of improving relations between Ukraine and Russia.
Vyshynsky’s past
Vyshynsky, 51, has been accused of conducting sabotage against the Ukrainian state on the order of the Russian government. According to the Ukrainian authorities, Vyshynsky posted 72 “anti-Ukrainian” stories on the website of his news agency during 2014-2018.
For that, he was allegedly paid by a Russian state-owned news agency through an offshore company in Cyprus and a gas company from Serbia.
According to Center for Research of Signs of Crimes against the National Security of Ukraine, Peace, Humanity, and the International Law, in 2014 Vyshynsky was awarded a Russian Order “For Services to the Fatherland” for his coverage of the annexation of Crimea by Russia.
He also was awarded with the medal “For the Crimean Return” by Russian Ministry of Defense in April 2014, according to Sargan, who published pictures of documents on Facebook.
Vyshynsky received Russian citizenship in 2015.
