Propagandist exchanged by Ukraine for Russia heads Russian state agency

This is stated on the website of the Russian propaganda media.

After arriving in Russia, Vyshynskyi served as the executive director of the Rossiya Segodnya international media group. He was also allegedly awarded the medal of the Order of Merit for the Motherland, first class, and a prize from the Russian government.

Who is Kyrylo Vyshynskyi?

Kyrylo Vyshynskyi is a native of Dnipro. In 2018, the Ukrainian Security Service conducted searches in the office of RIA Novosti Ukraine, where Vyshynskyi was the editor-in-chief. In 2014 he traveled to the occupied Crimea and justified Russian aggression. He was notified of being suspected of treason. Vyshynskyi is also charged with attempting to overthrow the constitutional order, separatism, incitement to national hatred and illegal possession of weapons. The court imposed a pretrial restraint on the man in the form of detention and extended it 8 times.

The pro-Russian Opposition Bloc party expressed outrage over Vyshynskyi's arrest and declared its readiness to vouch for him. At one of the court hearings, the propagandist declared his desire to renounce Ukrainian citizenship. At that time, he already had a Russian passport. On September 7, 2019, Vyshynskyi was handed over to Russia as part of the 35-for-35 exchange. Cases against him are still open to this day.