Roman Sushchenko, a journalist with the national information agency Ukrinform, who was arrested in Russia, may be exchanged for Viktor Pavlenko arrested in Rivne, Sushchenko’s lawyer Mark Feygin.
“Sushchenko has left Lefortovo. Generally, we hope that the Kremlin will agree to exchange Sushchenko for Viktor Pavlenko arrested in Rivne on Oct. 8, 2016,” Feygin said on Twitter on Nov. 21.
According to earlier reports, Sushchenko was detained in Moscow on Sept. 30 allegedly for a “spy action.”
The Moscow Lefortovo Court on Oct. 1 arrested him for two months on espionage charges.
On Oct. 27, the Moscow City Court declined an appeal filed by his lawyer Mark Feygin contesting his arrest and upheld the decision made by the Lefortovo Court. Kyiv called the journalist’s detention a provocation and the espionage accusations made against him ungrounded.
On Oct. 9, 2016, the SBU reported on the detention in Rivne of a suspected agent of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian Federal Staff. The name of the detainee was not given.
