Ukrainian Security Service accuses RIA Novosti Ukraine of state treason
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) stated that the head of RIA Novosti-Ukraine, Kirill Vyshinsky, was accused of state treason, Press Secretary of the Security Service, Olena Hitlyanska reported on Facebook.
On May 15, the SBU conducted searches in the office of RIA Novosti-Ukraine. Hitlyanska stated that Vyshinsky was detained.
Earlier, the SBU revealed that, together with the Prosecutor's Office of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the activities of a network of media structures controlled by Russia were uncovered, which "were used by the aggressor country in a hybrid information war against Ukraine."
RIA Novosti-Ukraine, a branch of the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti has been operating in Ukraine for at least six years. On May 9, special correspondents of Russian Channel One and Russia TV were expelled from Ukraine, the SBU press center said.
According to the SBU, journalists Valentina Solovyova and Olga Yurieva arrived in Kyiv "for the preparation of tendentious reports" about the celebration of the Victory Day over Nazism in Ukraine in World War II.
The department noted that on May 9, Solovyova was expelled to Russia, and Yuryeva was returned to Kazakhstan. They were forbidden to enter Ukraine for three years.
The SBU expelled a number of journalists from Ukraine, mainly from Russia, for "activities that are contrary to the interests of Ukraine." This caused criticism by some human rights and journalistic organizations.