Russian prisoners issue not raised at Ukraine Contact Group meetings - negotiator
MINSK. May 22 (Interfax) - The issue of Russians Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, who were arrested by the Ukrainian Security Service in Luhansk region on May 17, was not raised at meetings of the Contact Group on Ukraine on Friday, according to the chief peace negotiator of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.
"This matter comes within the competence of the [Contact Group's] subgroup for humanitarian affairs. For this reason, today this issue wasn't raised during the meeting of the subgroup for political affairs or during the meeting of the Contact Group," Vladislav Deinego told reporters.
The two Russians, who the Ukrainian Security Service believes are "officers from the Main Investigation Department of the Russian Defense Ministry," were detained in the military operation zone near Shchastya, Luhansk region. One of the detainees was wounded in the hand and the other was wounded in the leg.
On May 19, Ukrainian investigators notified Yerofeyev and Alexandrov that they were suspected of involvement in terrorist activities on behalf of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on May 18 that the two Russians "had not been active servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces as of the moment of their detention."
