"We have the full evidence of the presence of the Russian army, the regular troops [in Donbas]. Today, as you probably know, the OSCE and the International [Committee of the] Red Cross (ICRC) have made an official statement that the soldiers who are now in our hospital, receiving the proper treatment, are the real soldiers of the Russian troops," the Ukrainian president said prior to the Eastern Partnership summit in Riga on Thursday, according to BBC Ukraine.
As UNIAN reported earlier, two Russian GRU officers Aleksandr Aleksandrov and Yevgeniy Yerofeyev were captured by Ukrainian servicemen near the town of Schastia in Luhansk region on May 16.
The OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) reported on May 21 that one of the officers told it he had arrived in Ukraine on the order of his military unit. The SMM spoke to the two Russians without the presence of Ukrainian authorities. The SMM assessed their general condition and gathered their accounts about their capture.
"One of them said he had received military education in the Russian Federation. Both individuals claimed that they were members of a unit of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. They claimed that they were on a reconnaissance mission. They were armed but had no orders to attack. Both of them said that they came under fire, got injured and were captured on May 16, 2015 at the contact line near Schastia," the SMM reported.
"One of them said he had received orders from his military unit to go to Ukraine; he was to 'rotate' after three months. Both of them said they had been to Ukraine 'on missions' before," the SMM said.
Russia's defense ministry, like the Kremlin, earlier announced that the Russian soldiers captured by the Ukrainian military in the Donbas conflict zone on May 16 were not acting servicemen of the Russian armed forces, but demanded their release.
unian.info
21/5/15
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- Latest from OSCE Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine based on information received as of 19:30 (Kyiv time), 20 May 2015....
...........The SMM visited the two individuals currently held at the military hospital in Kyiv, who received medical treatment.
The SMM spoke to the two individuals without the presence of Ukrainian authorities. The SMM assessed their general condition and gathered their accounts about their capture.
One of them said he had received military education in the Russian Federation. Both individuals claimed that they were members of a unit of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.
- They claimed that they were on a reconnaissance mission.
- They were armed but had no orders to attack.
One of them said he had received orders from his military unit to go to Ukraine; he was to “rotate” after three months. Both of them said they had been to Ukraine “on missions” before.
One of them stressed repeatedly that there were no Russian troops involved in fighting in Ukraine. Both said they were provided with a Ukrainian lawyer who visited them today...............http://www.osce.org/ukraine-smm/159296 21/5/15
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Ukrainian military spokesman Alexander Motuzyanyk on Thursday accused pro-independence rebels in eastern regions of launching a new offensive...
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He added that one Ukrainian serviceman was killed and eight others wounded in the eastern regions over the past day.
Meanwhile, Eduard Basurin, a senior insurgent commander, said that two civilians and two rebel fighters were wounded in shelling in Donetsk region allegedly by the Ukrainian army.
The warring sides in eastern Ukraine have repeatedly accused each other of breaching a deal agreed in February in Minsk, the capital of Belarus.
The Minsk deal, which covers a cease-fire and withdrawal of heavy weapons from the front line, has significantly eased the intensity of fighting and led to lower casualties from both sides.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/922956.shtml