KIEV, May 2. /TASS/. Kiev’s Podolsky district court has adjourned the hearing on the case of RIA Novosti Ukraine’s Editor-in-Chief Kirill Vyshinsky citing the reason that he had not arrived in court from the pre-trial detention center, his lawyer Andrei Domansky told TASS.

"Today Kirill has not been taken to the courtroom, despite the court’s request and that’s why the hearing was adjourned until 5:00 p.m. on May 7," the attorney said, blaming a prison guard for the situation.

On Thursday, the Kiev court was expected to complete reading out the indictment in the 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 agency’s Editor-in-chief Kirill Vyshinsky was taken into custody. The charges against Vyshinsky are particularly based on a number of articles dedicated to the 2014 events in Crimea. If found guilty, the journalist may face up to 15 years, but 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.