The Ukrainian Justice Ministry has forwarded a request to the Russian Justice Ministry on extraditing Ukrainian citizen Valentyn Vyhovsky, whom Russia has sentenced to 11 years in prison for spying, Ukrainian Deputy Justice Minister Serhiy Petukhov said.

"We have sent a request to the Russian Justice Ministry on the handover of Valentyn Vyhovsky, who has been sentenced to 11 years in prison for 'spying'," Petukhov said on Facebook on Tuesday.

It was reported earlier that the Russian Supreme Court upheld Vyhovsky's conviction for spying on March 31.

The hearing was held behind closed doors, as the case was classified.

The Moscow Regional Court found Vyhovsky guilty of spying, and sentenced him to 11 years in a strict security penitentiary on December 15. The court also ruled to nationalize the 3,900 euro confiscated from Vyhovsky.

The defendant had pled guilty and concluded a plea agreement with the investigation.

The Federal Security Service (FSB) reported later that Vyhovsky, a Ukrainian citizen, used the Internet to engage aerospace specialists working in Russia's defense industry in gathering classified technical documents and passing them to him.