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Russian journalists of Zvezda television network released in Ukraine

They are to be airlifted to Moscow by a special plane of the Defence Ministry

© ITAR-TASS/Yuri Mashkov

MOSCOW, June 09. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian journalists of the Zvezda (Star) television network, who were detained in Ukraine on June 6, have been released, the Russia-24 TV channel reported early Monday.

The Zvezda TV network later confirmed the fact of release of its reporters in Ukraine. "The journalists of the Zvezda TV channel are free!" said the announcement on the TV network's website.

"The video camera operator and the engineer were turned over to the Russian side at the Nekhoteyevka internaitonal border-crossing station (Belgorod Region). They are to be airlifted to Moscow by a special plane of the Defence Ministry," a source at the TV network said.

Zvezda journalists Andrei Sushenkov and Anton Malyshev arrived in Ukraine in order to cover the inauguration of Petro Poroshenko. Contact with them was lost in the evening of June 6 after they arrived at a checkpoint in Donetsk Region.

The leadership of the Zvezda TV network, the Human Rights Council, the Journalists Unions of Russia and Moscow, and the European Commission urged Ukraine to release the Russian reporters.

Tags

Ukraine crisis Eastern Ukraine Journalism

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