MOSCOW, May 03. /ITAR-TASS/. Self-defense forces in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk helped to release military observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to keep them away from Kiev’s punitive operation in the south-eastern regions of the country, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday, May 3.

Responding to requests from the OSCE and European leaders, Russia took energetic steps over the past several days to secure the release of the military observers detained by local militia on April 25.

Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his special envoy Vladimir Lukin to the region to mediate the talks on their release. The mission resulted in the release of the OSCE observers. Lukin took them to Donetsk.

“This step was taken by the Sloviansk self-defense forces despite Kiev’s purposeful escalation of the internal conflict at a time when the peaceful city is under a direct and unmotivated attack involving the Armed Forces and Right Sector militants clad in National Guard uniform. Undoubtedly, this testifies to the courage and humanism of the city defenders. They showed their care about the security of foreign citizens so that they were not affected by the punitive operation,” the ministry said.