Sushchenko sends greetings to Georgians, Ukrainian diaspora

Ukrainian journalist Roman Sushchenko, who was illegally convicted in Russia, has conveyed greetings to Ukrainians in Georgia and Georgians.

He wrote this in a leaflet to Ukrainian activist Yuliia Frunze from Tbilisi, according to an Ukrinform correspondent.

"Yuliia, you are the first one to write to me from a beautiful and sunny Georgia, an amazing country which I did not visit but which I will definitely visit. Send my warm welcome words to the Ukrainians of Georgia and to your Georgian friends. I admire you," Sushchenko wrote.

According to the Ukrainian journalist, he feels fine, stays in spirit with Ukraine, reads a lot, draws, and writes poems.

The postcard is dated February 20.

Ukrinform's Paris-based correspondent Roman Sushchenko was illegally detained on September 30, 2016 in Moscow, where he arrived on a private trip.

On October 7, 2016, he was charged with "espionage." Russia's FSB claimed that Sushchenko is a member of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry. The latter denied this allegation.

On June 4, 2018, the Moscow City Court sentenced Sushchenko to 12 years in a high-security penal colony. The Supreme Court of Russia upheld the verdict on September 12.

On October 8, 2018, it was reported that Sushchenko had been transferred to a penal colony. On November 7, the Russian Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) informed Ukraine's Embassy in Moscow that Sushchenko had been transferred to Penal Colony No. 11 of the FSIN directorate for the Kirov region (the town of Kirovo-Chepetsk, the village of Utrobino).

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