Two Ukraine Officials Arrested in Absentia in Russia Over Admiral's Prosecution

Two Ukrainian high-profile officials have been arrested in absentia in Russia over illegal prosecution of Russian admiral, the spokeswoman of the Basmanny District Court of Moscow told Sputnik.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Russian court has authorized arrest in absentia of Ruslan Kravchenko, the prosecutor at the Chief Military Prosecutor’s Office of Ukraine (PGO) and Vadim Priymachok, PGO's investigator, over illegal criminal prosecution of Russian Black Sea Fleet Commander Adm. Aleksandr Vitko, the spokeswoman said.

"The Basmanny District Court of Moscow has sanctioned the arrest in absentia of Kravchenko and Priymachok this week, [and] in line with the legislative norms they have been put on the wanted list," Yunona Tsareva said.

In April 2016, Ukraine's military court allowed detention of Vitko, who was accused by Kiev of criminal actions aimed at changing Ukrainian borders and direct participation in the aggressive actions against Ukraine in 2014 in the period from February 20 to March 21.

On March 16, 2014, a referendum took place in Crimea, as a result of which the peninsula reunified with Russia. Although Moscow views the procedure as legitimate and in line with the international law, Kiev and the West consider the event as an annexation by Russia.