MOSCOW, June 16, 20:20 /ITAR-TASS/. Two journalists of the Russian television channel Zvezda (Star), who were detained in Ukraine last week, have returned to Moscow. Their plane landed at Sheremeteyvo Airport.

Journalists thanks to persistent work of all Russian agencies with the active participation of and support from the country’s mass media, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

“We insist that unlawful detentions of Russian reporters in Ukraine must be stopped and their right to unhindered and objective coverage of events in that country must be ensured,” the ministry said in a statement.

Zvezda reporter Yevgeny Davydov and cameraman Nikita Konashenkov were detained at a Ukrainian National Guard roadblock near the village of Pokrovskoye, after which they were taken to Dnepropetrovsk.

The journalists were in Ukraine on an official business trip and had all the necessary documents on them as well as plane tickets.

Earlier in the day, officials in the Dnepropetrovsk regional administration handed over the journalists to Russian Navy Attache Eduard Belashev.