Injuries on Russian Citizen Found Dead at Lviv Jail Point to Murder - Moscow

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The nature of the injuries on the body of Russian volunteer Valery Ivanov, who died in prison in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, gives grounds to believe that he was murdered, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Friday.

"According to the information we have, an autopsy revealed that the victim had numerous serious injuries, including a fracture of four ribs and a closed head injury. This gives reason to assume a deliberate murder of a Russian citizen", the ministry said in a statement.

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According to the head of the prison, Ivanov died from injuries sustained as a result of falling from a stepladder during the replacement of a light bulb, the ministry noted.

"We continue to keep the situation under control, we are counting on an unbiased and objective investigation of the death of the Russian citizen", the Russian Foreign Ministry underlined.

The Consulate General of Russia in Lviv is in contact with the Ukrainian police, according to the statement.

Earlier in the week, a representative of the breakaway Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR) Olga Kobtseva told Sputnik that Ivanov died in prison from being beaten by the prison guards. Ivanov had been included in the latest prisoner swap list between LPR and Ukraine, but at the last minute, Kiev excluded him and some other Russian citizens from the list.