You're reading: Mingarelli says EU does not believe Moscow’s charges against Ukrainian journalist Sushchenko

The European Union does not believe the espionage charges that Russia brought against the Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko, the head of the EU delegation to Ukraine, Hugh Mingarelli, said.

The EU condemns the detention in Moscow of the correspondent Sushchenko who is being accused of espionage, and does not believe these accusations, Mingarelli said during a conference on journalists’ safety in Kyiv on October 25.

On October 3, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) said that its officers in Moscow “arrested Col. Roman Sushchenko, an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, during a spy operation.” The FSB opened a criminal case under Article 276 (espionage) of the Russian Criminal Code, an inquiry is underway.

The Lefortovo court in Moscow placed Sushchenko under a two-month arrest. His defense team has appealed against the arrest. On October 7, it emerged that Russian investigators had charged Sushchenko with espionage.

Kyiv called the arrest a provocation on trumped-up espionage charges.