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Kiev court arrests Russian national detained in east Ukraine

There has been no ruling yet regarding the second Russian detainee
Alexander Alexandrov EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY
Alexander Alexandrov
© EPA/ROMAN PILIPEY

KIEV, May 22. /TASS/. A court in Kiev has ordered the arrest of Russian national Alexander Alexandrov detained by the Ukrainian military in the Luhansk region.

"The court has ruled to grant an application for Alexandrov’s remand in custody," judge Valentina Malinovskaya said.

In accordance with the court ruling, the suspect will be kept behind bars until July 19.

There has been no ruling yet regarding the second Russian detainee Yevgeny Yerofeyev.

"Russia’s consul attends the court hearing in Kiev on determining pre-trial restrictions for the detainees," press secretary of the Russian Embassy in Ukraine Oleg Grishin told TASS.

The two Russian citizens are facing a prison term of at least 15 years, spokesman for the Security Service of Ukraine Vitaly Naida said shortly before. He noted that they were suspected of carrying out "terrorist attacks" under Article 258 of Ukraine’s Criminal Code. "They may be sentenced to at least 15 years in prison," he said.

On Monday, the Russian Defence Ministry made a statement expressing hope for "the release of the former service members detained by Ukraine’s Security Service." "At the time of their detention on May 17, Russian nationals Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev captured by Ukraine’s Security Service in the Luhansk region were not on active service in the Russian Armed Forces," Defence Ministry spokesman Major-General Igor Konashenkov said.

"We checked the Ukrainian side’s information. These guys used to serve in a unit of the Russian Armed Forces and underwent military training. Moreover, I can confirm that the leadership of the Association of Veterans of Special Operations Forces had asked us to contact Ukraine’s General Staff through official channels to put an end to tortures of their wounded comrades by Security Service officers aimed at securing expected confessions," Konashenkov said.

"We reckon on the prudence of the Ukrainian leadership and the speedy release of Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev," he added.