KIEV, November 14 – RAPSI. Opposition figure Leonid Razvozzhayev, who is suspected of organizing mass riots in Moscow, did not ask the Ukrainian authorities to grant him asylum, Mykola Kovalchuk, the chairman of the Ukrainian State Migration Service, told journalists on Wednesday.
“Razvozzhayev did not refer to us,” he said. “I have just learned from the press that he was visiting an organization dealing with Israeli refugees.”
On October 19, the Russian Investigative Committee placed Razvozzhayev on the federal wanted list. He was charged with organizing public unrest together with Left Front movement coordinator Sergei Udaltsov and his aide Konstantin Lebedev. The case against them was initiated after the premiere of the "Anatomy of Protest 2" documentary film on NTV.
The film claimed that the opposition was organizing a coup using funds from abroad. The film shows Udaltsov and his companions allegedly talking with Georgia's then-Parliamentary Defense and Security Committee head Givi Targamadze, who was said to be experienced in planning the "color" revolutions in Georgia and Ukraine, as well as mass riots in Belarus.
On October 18, Razvozzhayev applied for political asylum with the UNHCR office in Kiev. He then disappeared after leaving the office, and wound up in the custody of the Russian police.
The Investigative Committee later reported that Razvozzhayev came to them on his own accord, declaring that he wanted to confess.
However, Razvozzhayev said that he was kidnapped and transported to Russia, where he was then pressured and tortured into giving a false confession.
Razvozzhayev's attorneys have submitted an application to initiate a criminal case on his alleged kidnapping to the Investigative Committee.
The Ukrainian border service said Razvozzhayev legally left Ukraine on October 19 and did not voice any claims when crossing the border.