Russia: Lavrov mentions Vyshinsky case when issue of detained Ukrainian sailors arises

M/S Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his German counterpart Heiko Maas at press conference, Moscow
SOT, reporter (German): “Minister Maas, the last question about detained [Ukrainian] sailors. Have you got an impression after talks that the case will be solved quickly or the solution should be awaits in medium term?”
SOT, Sergei Lavrov, Russian Foreign Minister (Russian): “You asked my colleague about the fate of Ukrainian sailors. Maybe you remember how it happened in November last year when, severely violating the norms of secure passage through straits, they secretly attempted to break through. At the same time security service officers were on board and on board there were documents that confirmed they had an illegal order to break through, without informing Russian border control service. Nevertheless they are people, they have families, they implemented a felonious, dangerous order and, as I mentioned before, the Presidents discussed aims that need to be solved for detained people from both sides to return to their families. You are not a sailor maybe, aren’t you? You are a journalist as I understand. And there is your professional colleague, he is a journalist, his surname is [Kirill] Vyshinksky. He did not break through the Kerch Strait despite all norms and rules. He did not touch anyone, he forbade anything to anyone, he just wrote reports. And for his writing from Kiev he was accused of treason. I said it for a bigger picture of how journalists work. Maybe this story will interest you.”
M/S Lavrov and Maas at press conference
SCRIPT
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov advised a journalist, who asked about Ukrainian sailors detained during the Kerch Straight incident, to also take into account the case of RIA Novosti Ukraine Editor-in-Chief Kirill Vyshinsky case, while speaking alongside German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in Moscow on Wednesday.
The question was initially fielded to Maas, which asked if he “got an impression after talks that the case will be solved quickly or the solution should be awaits in medium term?”
In response, Lavrov said “maybe you remember how it happened in November last year when, severely violating the norms of secure passage through straits, they secretly attempted to break through. At the same time security service officers were on board and on board there were documents that confirmed they had an illegal order to break through, without informing Russian border control service.”
Lavrov continued that despite that, they were normal people with families, and that certain issues needed to be resolved “for detained people on both sides to be returned to their families.”
Lavrov then brought up Vyshinsky, saying “your professional colleague, he is a journalist, his surname is [Kirill] Vyshinksky. He did not break through the Kerch Strait despite all norms and rules. He did not touch anyone, he forbade anything to anyone, he just wrote reports. And for his writing from Kiev he was accused of treason. I said it for a bigger picture of how journalists work. Maybe this story will interest you.”
Vyshinsky was detained in Kiev on May 15, 2018. He is being held on suspicion of treason, which carries a prison sentence of up to 15 years.