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Reporter Vyshinsky unafraid to return to Ukraine

The Russian journalist is to return to Kiev for court hearings

RIA Novosti Ukraine Editor-in-Chief Kirill Vyshinsky Sergei Karpukhin/TASS

RIA Novosti Ukraine Editor-in-Chief Kirill Vyshinsky

© Sergei Karpukhin/TASS

MOSCOW, September 9. /TASS/. RIA Novosti Ukraine Editor-in-Chief Kirill Vyshinsky is not afraid of returning to Ukraine, however, he is not confident that it will be safe, he said during a press conference in Moscow on Monday.

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Vyshinsky says ready to return for court hearing to Kiev

"How am I going to fly to Kiev to attend court sessions? I will buy the tickets and go. I don’t know how safe it is," he said. "I am not afraid. My wife and mother are demanding that I don’t even try yet. I will make a decision, but definitely not today," Vyshinsky added.

The reporter also informed that he could have left Kiev earlier; however, he chose to stay and arrive in Moscow on a special flight on September 7 after a request by Russian Human Rights Commissioner Tatyana Moskalkova.

"I left the Court of Appeal only with a document that obliges me to state my place of residence, to avoid meeting certain people and to attend court sessions. Nothing was restricting me," he explained. According to Vyshinsky, he was asked to stay "so that it would serve as a sign that all obligations will be followed." "There was a request, and I complied with it," the reporter concluded.

On September 7, Moscow and Kiev carried out a "35 for 35" exchange of detainees. The preparations for the exchange began after Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s election. The active phase of negotiations and the formalization of the legal procedures for citizens of the two countries who were to be included in the list started several weeks ago. On September 5, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the exchange would be large-scale and may become a step towards the normalization of bilateral relations.

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 head 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 behind bars. On August 28, 2019, he was released from custody in Kiev.

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