SBU Commences Investigation Following Lawyer's Statement That DPR's Brazilian Militant Lusvarghi Was Kidnapped In Kyiv By Activists Of Nationalist Organizations In May 2018

The Security Service of Ukraine has commenced investigation following a statement by Valentyn Rybin, the lawyer of Brazilian citizen Rafael Lusvarghi, who was a militant with the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic" (DPR), that his client was kidnapped in Kyiv in May 2018.

The lawyer wrote this on his Facebook page, Ukrainian News Agency reports.

The lawyer also published an answer of the SBU to his inquiry saying that a criminal case was instituted on June 1, 2018, on the fact of seizure of Lusvarghi following Rybin's statement and a ruling of the Shevchenkivskyi District Court of Kyiv of May 18, 2018.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, representatives of the National Corps party caught Lusvarghi in Kyiv on May 4 and delivered him to the SBU.

A district court in Donetsk region ordered arrest of the militant.

The Pecherskyi District Court of Kyiv sentenced Lusvarghi to 13 years in prison on January 25, 2017 for fighting alongside militants of the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic."

An appeal court overturned the 13-year prison sentence in August 2017.