Ukraine's foreign sponsors were put in an awkward position Tuesday, after their mischievous protégé launched a blatant crackdown on a news outlet, arresting its head and branding him a traitor and an apologist of terrorism.
The target for Kiev's attack is RIA Novosti Ukraine, a Russia-linked news agency, and its head Kirill Vyshynsky. The 51-year-old was snatched in the morning near his home in the Ukrainian capital and later sent to another city. As of Wednesday, his wife Irina had no communication with Kirill and is concerned that he may not receive proper medical treatment in the custody of the SBU – the powerful Ukrainian national security service. “This came out of the blue, with no signs something like this can happen,” she told Rossiya 24 news program.
The offices of the agency and homes of Vyshynsky and some other employees of RIA Novosti Ukraine were searched by officers of the SBU. The journalists, who were working at the time of the raid, were left incommunicado for eight hours. The website of the agency has not updated since, indicating a continued disruption of its work.
Damning evidence
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko posted several photos taken during the searches, presumably showing evidence of the journalist's treason. Some were obviously meant to demonstrate his links to Russia, like his Russian passport (Vyshynsky received Russian citizenship in September 2015, but Ukrainian officials acted as if this was not on the public record), a couple of Russian awards, and a bunch of St. George ribbons, which Ukraine banned from public display last year for political reasons.
There was money – dollars, euros, and rubles spread out on a bed and presumably representing payments from Russia, which the SBU claimed amounted to over $62,000 a month. The bills in the picture amount to about $8,170.
https://www.rt.com/news/426928-ukraine-crackdown-russian-journalists/
The target for Kiev's attack is RIA Novosti Ukraine, a Russia-linked news agency, and its head Kirill Vyshynsky. The 51-year-old was snatched in the morning near his home in the Ukrainian capital and later sent to another city. As of Wednesday, his wife Irina had no communication with Kirill and is concerned that he may not receive proper medical treatment in the custody of the SBU – the powerful Ukrainian national security service. “This came out of the blue, with no signs something like this can happen,” she told Rossiya 24 news program.
The offices of the agency and homes of Vyshynsky and some other employees of RIA Novosti Ukraine were searched by officers of the SBU. The journalists, who were working at the time of the raid, were left incommunicado for eight hours. The website of the agency has not updated since, indicating a continued disruption of its work.
Damning evidence
Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yury Lutsenko posted several photos taken during the searches, presumably showing evidence of the journalist's treason. Some were obviously meant to demonstrate his links to Russia, like his Russian passport (Vyshynsky received Russian citizenship in September 2015, but Ukrainian officials acted as if this was not on the public record), a couple of Russian awards, and a bunch of St. George ribbons, which Ukraine banned from public display last year for political reasons.
There was money – dollars, euros, and rubles spread out on a bed and presumably representing payments from Russia, which the SBU claimed amounted to over $62,000 a month. The bills in the picture amount to about $8,170.
https://www.rt.com/news/426928-ukraine-crackdown-russian-journalists/
