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Russian TV journalists released in Ukraine return to Moscow

Andrei Sushenkov and Anton Malyshev were released on the night from Sunday to Monday

© RUPTLY/TASS TV

MOSCOW, June 09. /ITAR-TASS/. Zvezda TV journalists, who were released in Ukraine, have arrived by air in Moscow, says an announcement on the TV network's website.

The journalists were released on the night from Sunday to Monday.

"The video camera operator and the engineer were turned over to the Russian side at the Nekhoteyevka international border-crossing station (Belgorod Region)," a source at the TV network said earlier Monday.

Zvezda journalists Andrei Sushenkov and Anton Malyshev had 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 applied to Poroshenko in a request for release of the journalists, and also asked for support from the journalistic community in this respect. The Embassy of Russia to Ukraine joined in the efforts towards release of the Zvezda journalists.

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

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Ukraine Eastern Ukraine Journalism

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