Russian consul in Ukraine Alexei Gruby has said the disappearance Yuriy Hrabovsky, the lawyer for Russian special security officer Alexander Alexandrov, is suspicious and expressed concern for Hrabovsky's health and well being.

Journalists attending hearings at the Holosiyivsky District Court of Kyiv on Tuesday asked Gruby about Hrabovsky. Gruby replied: "The disappearance of a person and the decision to open an investigation about premeditated murder … Many of my colleagues and I have expressed our fears."

Gruby told Interfax-Ukraine that the situation involving Hrabovsky is peculiar. "We hope that he is alive and in good health, but we are not sure of this."

The Russian consul related a series of events which transpired after February 23, including the seizure of materials belonging to Alexandrov and the cancellation of two court hearings. He said the events indicate that Hrabovsky's disappearance was not a coincidence.

"At the same time, shenanigans involving Yerofeyev's lawyer Oksana Sokolovskaya represent an attempt to exert psychological influence on the defense lawyers. Alexandrov's former defense attorney, Mr. Kravchuk, was also attacked in August by unknown people," Gruby said.

As reported earlier, Kyiv's Holosiyivsky District Court on March 9 rescheduled hearings in a criminal case against two Russian special security force officers Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov to March 15, due to absence of lawyer Hrabovsky. During the court hearing, Yerofeyev's lawyer Sokolovskaya said she was unable to contact Hrabovsky.

Sokolovskaya said in a message posted to her Facebook page that the note allegedly written by Hrabovsky saying he was leaving Ukraine was not written by him. According to Sokolovskaya, Hrabovsky remains in Ukraine, because this is where his foreign passport is.