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Two Russian servicemen abducted by Ukraine security officers in Crimea — defense ministry

The Russian Defense Ministry demanded the immediate release of the captured servicemen

© Mikhail Pochuev/TASS/Archive

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MOSCOW, November 21. /TASS/. Two Russian servicemen have been abducted by Ukraine’s Security Service in Crimea and taken to Ukraine’s Nikolayev region, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Monday.

"At about 1pm Moscow time on November 20, officers of Ukraine’s Security Service illegally detained two Russian servicemen: warrant officer Maxim Yevgenyevich Odintsov and junior sergeant Alexander Vyacheslavovich Baranov and took them to the territory of the Nikolayev region in Ukraine," the defense ministry said.

According to sources, efforts are being made to fabricate a criminal case against these servicemen on charges of alleged crimes against Ukraine.

"It is not ruled out that psychological and physical pressure might be exerted on the Russian servicemen to have them 'confess' what Ukraine needs," the ministry said. "We consider these actions taken by Ukrainian security services against Russian citizens as another flagrant provocation and demand their immediate release to the Russian territory," the defense ministry stressed.

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