KIEV, January 18. /TASS/. An appeal against Ukraine’s Kherson City Court’s decision to extend the arrest of Chief Editor of the RIA Novosti Ukraina news outlet Kirill Vyshinsky may be filed on Monday, lawyer Andrei Domansky told TASS on Friday.

"We will file an appeal within five days, as prescribed by law. I think, it will be done on Monday, he said.

On Thursday, the Kherson City Court extended Vyshinsky’s arrest until February 16, upholding the prosecution’s request and denying a defense request to release him on bail.

Vyshinsky case

On May 15, 2018, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) carried out a large-scale operation against RIA Novosti Ukraine staff members, accusing them of high treason. The news outlet’s Chief Editor Kirill Vyshinsky was arrested. The SBU issued a statement claiming that "a network of media structures, which Moscow used for carrying out a hybrid war" against Kiev had been exposed.

Charges against Vyshinsky are particularly based on a number of the journalist’s articles dedicated to the 2014 events in Crimea. If found guilty, the journalist may face up to 15 years. However, he pleaded not guilty.

Vyshinsky, originally a Ukrainian national, obtained Russian citizenship in 2015. He addressed Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko from the courtroom, renouncing his Ukrainian citizenship and saying he considered himself to be only a Russian national. He also addressed Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking for legal assistance in his release.