Russian lawyer Mark Feygin does not rule out that Ukrainian journalist Pavlo Sharoiko was detained and arrested in Minsk in order to force him to testify against another Ukrainian journalist, Roman Sushchenko, who is being held in Moscow and accused of espionage.

"I think that one day he [Sharoiko] will also be exchanged. It's easier for Kyiv to hold talks with Minsk than with Moscow. However, I do not rule out that Sharoiko was captured specially to testify against Sushchenko, that he is also a member of Ukrainian military intelligence. They will start to twist his hands and say: you confessed that you are a spy, now testify against Sushchenko. If you said 'A,' say 'B,'" Feygin said in an interview with Ukraine's Fakty I Kommentarii newspaper, which was published on January 3.

The lawyer said that Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) wanted Sushchenko "to admit in front of the camera that he is also not a journalist, but a career officer of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, like Sharoiko."

On October 3, 2016, it was reported that Sushchenko had been detained "while conducting espionage" in Moscow. According to Russian intelligence agencies, Sushchenko is a career officer of the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Defense Ministry with the rank of colonel. Sushchenko is charged with espionage (article 276 of the criminal code), which he denies.

It was announced on November 17, 2017 that UA: Ukrainian Radio correspondent Sharoiko had been detained in Minsk on October 25. Sharoiko is accused of espionage. He currently stays in the KGB's detention center.

According to the Belarusian KGB, Sharoiko admitted that he is a career officer of Ukrainian military intelligence, working undercover.