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Kiev court extends custody of two Russians until February

Russians Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev were captured by Ukraine’s forces in mid-May in the Luhansk region, in eastern Ukraine, Kiev claimed the detainees allegedly were Russian servicemen

Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov Maxim Pab/TASS

Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov

© Maxim Pab/TASS

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KIEV, December 23. /TASS/. A Kiev district court has extended the custody of detained Russian citizens Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev until February next year, a TASS correspondent reported on Wednesday.

Judge Nikolai Didyk has ordered to "extend the restriction measures until February 20, 2016."

The court has extended the custody of the two detained Russians several times. The court dismissed the protest of the lawyers against increasing the number of prosecutors in the case from two to three.

Russians Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev were captured by Ukraine’s forces in mid-May in the Luhansk region, in eastern Ukraine. Kiev claimed the detainees allegedly were Russian servicemen.

Russia’s Defense Ministry later said the Russians "were not active servicemen of Russia’s Armed Forces at the moment when they were detained on May 17."

The court of Kiev’s Shevchenkovsky district arrested Alexandrov and Yerofeyev on May 22. The appeal court of Kiev on June 10 upheld the arrest of Russians, backing the decision of the first instance court. In early November, Kiev’s Goloseyevsky district court extended their custody until January 2, 2016.

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