KIEV, November 21. /TASS/. The two Russian nationals detained by Ukraine’s security officers at the border with Crimea had previously served in the Ukrainian army, the press service of the Ukrainian Security Service told TASS on Monday.

"These two former Ukrainian servicemen violated the oath of allegiance," the press service said.

On Monday, the Russian Defense Ministry said that two Russian servicemen had been abducted by Ukraine’s Security Service in Crimea and taken to Ukraine’s Nikolayev region.

"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 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 Russian Defense Ministry stressed,