Journalist With Russian State News Agency Detained, Office Searched In Kyiv
By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
KYIV -- Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) officers have searched the office of Russian state news agency RIA Novosti's branch in Ukraine and detained a journalist, accusing the media outlet of participating in a "hybrid information war" against Kyiv.
Colleagues at RIA Novosti-Ukraina said that Kirill Vyshinsky, a Russian citizen, was detained near his home in Kyiv on May 15.
SBU spokeswoman Olena Hitlyanska confirmed to RFE/RL that Vyshinsky was detained but gave no details.
Hitlyanska wrote earlier on Facebook that the news agency's office in the Ukrainian capital were searched.
Hitlyanska wrote that the SBU and prosecutors had "uncovered the activities" of a Russian-controlled network of media outlets that has been "used by the aggressor country to conduct a hybrid information war against Ukraine."
She said that more details would be made public later.
Ties between Moscow and Kyiv have been severely damaged by Russia's seizure of Crimea in 2014 and its support for separatists in a war that has killed more than 10,300 people in eastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainian government is wary of Russian media and entertainment, accusing Moscow of distributing disinformation aimed at sowing tension and destabilizing the country.
Kyiv has banned more than a dozen Russian television channels since 2014, accusing them of spreading propaganda.
Ukraine drew criticism from media freedom advocates in 2017 for the deportation of a correspondent for Russia's state-run Channel One television.
With reporting by RIA Novosti, UNIAN, TASS, and pravda.ua
Photo Gallery: Putin Set To Unveil Massive Bridge Linking Crimea To Russia (click to view)
Russian President Vladmir Putin is due on May 15 to officially unveil a 19-kilometer-long road bridge linking the annexed Crimean Peninsula with Russian territories across the Kerch Strait. Construction of the bridge, which can carry up to 40,000 cars a day, started in 2016. It was originally expected to open in December but was finished ahead of schedule. A railway bridge is due to be completed by the end of 2019.
Ukraine has condemned the project, which cost 228 billion rubles ($3.7 billion). Sanctions imposed by the European Union and the United States have targeted those involved in the bridge, including businessman Arkady Rotenberg, a close Putin ally whose company won the construction contract. The bridge surpasses the Vasco de Gama bridge in Portugal as the longest in Europe.
Putin Officially Opens Massive Bridge Linking Crimea To Russia
This ends our live blogging for May 14. Be sure to check back tomorrow for our continuing coverage.