Ex-Ukrainian security officer seeking asylum in Russia

KYIV. July 3 (Interfax-Ukraine) - Valentin Kryzhanovsky, a former officer of the Ukrainian Security Service, has applied for political asylum in Russia, Kryzhanovsky's wife Viktoria told a news conference in Kyiv on Monday.

"Not having any opportunity to protect myself by legal means, I have submitted an application for political asylum to the president of Russia," Kryzhanovsky's statement reads.

Kryzhanovskaya asked the Russian president not to extradite her husband to Ukraine "amid this rampant political and legal arbitrariness by the so-called new Ukrainian authorities."