MOSCOW, January 12. /TASS/. Russia will consider the UK’s request for assistance in the search for two British nationals who went missing in the combat zone in Soledar, but no such request has been submitted as of yet, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday.
"No, they [the UK] did not turn to us [regarding the issue]," Peskov told journalists.
According to him, Moscow’s readiness to provide assistance in the search of the two missing British nationals depends on London’s official request.
"What type of assistance can we provide? It depends on the wording [of the request] from the British side. But I know nothing about any contacts as of yet," Peskov continued.
"In any case, if we receive such a request to render assistance we will certainly consider it," he said in response to a question as to whether the Russian side was ready to help find the missing UK nationals and in the case of their deaths to assist in the delivery of their bodies back home.
Peskov stressed that the Kremlin has no information about the fate of the UK nationals at issue.
"All we have learned from media reports is that the current issue is about UK nationals, who served as militants, wielded arms participating in combat actions and their documents were allegedly discovered on the battlefield," he said. "However, we do not know all of the details."
"This is an area where combat activities are still underway and it is difficult to receive prompt information from that area," Peskov added.
On January 11, Russian businessman Yevgeny Prigozhin’s Concord company reported that one of the missing British nationals had been found dead. According to Ukraine’s National Police, Andrew Bagshaw, 48, and Christopher Parry, 28, went missing on January 6.
All communication with them was lost after they had departed from Kramatorsk to Soledar. According to British media outlets, the Britons were helping to evacuate civilians in the capacity of non-governmental organization’s employees.