The court extended the arrest of Ukrainian espionage suspect Roman Sushchenko for three months.

The Lefortovo District Court of Moscow extended the arrest of Ukrinform journalist Roman Sushchenko, accused of espionage, until April 30, reports . Interfax

The meeting at the prosecutor’s request was held behind closed doors due to the fact that the case was classified as “top secret”; lawyer Mark Feygin asked for an open meeting, since no secret documents were disclosed. The court denied Sushchenko access as a public defender of the Ukrainian consul in Russia Gennady Breskalenko.

On October 3, 2016, it became known that FSB officers detained journalist Roman Sushchenko “during a spy operation.” In a statement from the department, the journalist was called “a career employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine” and accused of “purposefully collecting state secret information about the activities of the Armed Forces and troops of the National Guard of the Russian Federation.”

On the same day, the FSB opened a criminal case against Sushchenko under Article 276 of the Criminal Code (espionage).

Roman Sushchenko works as a correspondent for the Ukrinform agency in Paris. According to the official version of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Sushchenko came to Russia to visit close relatives. On November 22, 2016, the Security Service of Ukraine announced that he was included in list . the “hostage exchange”