Roman Sushchenko, a correspondent of the Ukrainian National News Agency Ukrinform, was detained on Friday, September 30 in Moscow. He is accused of espionage.
“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation has detained an officer of the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine Sushchenko Roman Vladimirovich while conducting an espionage operation in Moscow. The Ukrainian national was purposefully collecting information on the Russian Armed Forces and National Guard, constituting state secrets, the disclosure of which could have undermined Russia’s defense capabilities,” Kremlin-controlled news agency TASS reports with reference to the Federal Security Service (FSB).
News agency Ukrinform stresses that at the time of arrest Roman Sushchenko was on vacation and arrived in Moscow on personal purposes. According to the Ukrainian side, he was detained in Moscow on the day of arrival and the Russian side, in violation of all international rules, didn’t inform anybody on his detention – neither his wife nor diplomatic institutions, or his employer.
The Foreign Ministry of Ukraine expressed its strong protest against charges brought by Russia’s FSB and called the arrest of the journalist’another step in purposeful policy of the Russian Federation to use Ukrainians, who are in the hands of its authorities, as political hostages in its hybrid aggression against our country’.
Roman Sushchenko is being kept in Moscow’s Lefortovo prison. Ukrinform and the arrestee’s wife signed a contract with prominent Russian lawyer Mark Feygin, who was a counsel for Nadiya Savchenko’s defense.
