Kiev Ready to Transfer Vyshinsky, 12 Other Prisoners to Russia - Official

KIEV (Sputnik) – Ukraine is ready to transfer 13 people, including head of RIA Novosti Ukraine portal Kirill Vyshinsky, to Russia in exchange for the release of Ukrainians prisoners, First Vice-Speaker of the Ukrainian parliament Iryna Herashchenko said Thursday

"On the list of citizens who Moskalkova wanted to visit, among others, there were the following persons: Vyshinsky, Galich, Dzhimiev, Zhitka, Kamalov, Marchukov, Mekhalchevsky, Osminin, Satarov, Sinichak, Sukhanov, Shibaev, and Yurevich. [Kiev is ready to transfer these 13 people to Russia in exchange] for the release of Ukrainian political prisoners," Herashchenko told reporters, as cited by the UNN news agency.

She said that the 13 people, whom Russian High Commissioner for Human Rights Tatiana Moskalkova wanted to visit during her trip to Ukraine, had either Russian or dual citizenship.

READ MORE: Vyshinsky to Be Brought to Pre-Trial Detention Center in Kiev to Meet Ombudsman

Ukrainian authorities have recently undertaken a number of hostile actions against Russian journalists and media outlets. One of the more notable instances happened in May, when the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) broke into the office of RIA Novosti Ukraine in Kiev and detained Vyshinsky on suspicion of supporting the self-proclaimed People’s Republics of Donetsk and Luhansk as well as for treason.

On May 17, a court in the Ukrainian city of Kherson ruled that Vyshinsky should be arrested and detained for 60 days without bail.

Russian President Vladimir Putin had said that Vyshinsky's arrest was politically motivated and that the incident demonstrated an unprecedented and unacceptable policy of Ukrainian authorities targeting journalists who were just doing their jobs.