MOSCOW, July 20. /TASS/. Russia’s drug enforcement officials said on Monday they had initiated legal proceedings against more than 800 Ukrainian citizens last year on charges of drug trafficking. In the first half of this year, more than 500 Ukrainians have been indicted for smuggling drugs.

Chief of Russian federal drug control service Viktor Ivanov said in an interview with Rossiya-24 television news channel: "Over the past year, some 853 Ukrainian citizens have been indicted on charges of selling psychoactive substances in Russian regions. In the first half of this year - more than 500 people."

Earlier, Ivanov said that the number of Ukrainians detained over illegal drug trafficking in Russia had grown.