Russia opens case of high treason against Poroshenko's lawyer

Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has opened a criminal case for high treason against Ilya Novikov, the lawyer of Ukraine's fifth president, Petro Poroshenko.

Source: FSB 

Quote from the FSB: "The involvement of Ilya Novikov, a former lawyer of the Moscow Bar Association, in committing high treason in the form of defecting to the enemy has been documented. A criminal case has been opened against him. The investigation is underway."

Details: The FSB reported that Novikov, after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, "voluntarily left the territory of Russia, joined the ranks of the Territorial Defence Forces of Ukraine and has been participating in their activities to date."

According to the FSB, Novikov in particular "underwent military training in Ukraine, is participating in combat actions, and is engaged in propaganda work". 

Previously: In December 2022, the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs put well-known Russian lawyer Ilya Novikov on the federal wanted list.

Novikov has been living in Kyiv since 2021.

He has participated in a number of high-profile trials in Russia and Ukraine. He was also a defence lawyer in the trials against Alexei Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation and Memorial and represented the interests of pilot Nadiia Savchenko and film director Oleh Sentsov. In Ukraine, he is the defence counsel for Petro Poroshenko, the leader of the European Solidarity party.

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