MOSCOW, June 4. /TASS/. Kiev police launched a criminal investigation into the burglary of a residential apartment, which belongs to detained RIA Novosti Ukraine Editor-in-Chief Kirill Vyshinsky, the UNN news agency cited local law enforcement bodies as saying.
"Police received a call at about 5:00 p.m. local time (on Sunday)," the agency reported citing a police statement. "Police are currently holding all necessary investigative and search measures to establish suspects of the crime."
According to earlier reports, unidentified suspects ransacked the apartment of Vyshinsky in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. Journalist’s lawyer Andrey Domansky said documents and valuables disappeared from the apartment.
On May 15, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) carried out a large-scale operation against RIA Novosti Ukraine staff members, accusing them of high treason. The news agency’s Chief Editor Kirill Vyshinsky was detained and taken to the city of Kherson, where the city court arrested him for 60 days. On June 1, an appeals court rejected an appeal against his arrest. The journalist faces up to 15 years behind bars.
Ahead of the verdict announcement the journalist addressed Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko from the courtroom, saying he was going to abandon Ukrainian citizenship and that he considered himself a Russian citizen only. The editor-in-chief also addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking him to provide legal support for his release.
The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on Sunday demanding that Vyshinsky be immediately released and all the accusations against him be removed.