Armed people who referred to themselves as the supporters of the Donetsk people's republic entered the building of the Kramatorsk town police on Monday evening and took the police chief, Vitaliy Kolupai, away to Sloviansk, a spokesperson for the Donetsk regional police said.
“Seven masked armed individuals entered the Kramatorsk town police
building on the night of April 21. The individuals referred to
themselves as the supporters of the Donetsk people’s republic. They did
not put forward any demands or hamper the police work. The head of the
town police traveled with the group of activists to Sloviansk for
negotiations,” the spokesperson said.
The gunmen remain inside the town police building, “current reports
suggest that Kolupai is being held by these individuals against his
will,” the spokesperson said.
In another statement, the Donetsk regional police said that the
police did not receive any reports about the kidnapping of reporters in
Sloviansk.
“On April 20 and 21 the media reported that the supporters of the
so-called Donetsk people’s republic in Sloviansk kidnapped five
journalists – the Ukrainian reporters Irma Krat and Serhiy Lefter,
Italians Paul Gogo and Cossimo Attanasio, and their Belarusian colleague
Dmitry Galko,” the statement said.
Various sources said that the journalists had cash, papers and photo
cameras seized from them and are being held by force, the Donetsk
regional police said. “The information about the kidnappings has been
filed with the single register of public complaints and reports of the
Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s Main Directorate for the Donetsk region.
An inquiry is under way,” the statement said.
Police have yet to find witnesses who would confirm the kidnappings;
nor do they have any information that these journalists were in
Sloviansk. “Police have not received any reports about these criminal
offences,” the Donetsk regional police said.
It was reported earlier that four journalists have been kidnapped in
Sloviansk over the past 24 hours. Later, however, a number of media
outlets cited Sloviansk self-defense representatives who said that the
foreign journalists were released and traveled to Donetsk.
