Luhansk Mayor Serhiy Kravchenko said on Aug. 18 that he had been released after several days of "illegal detention" by lawmakers representing the Svoboda party and members of the Aidar battalion.
“I have spent the hardest 10 days of my life… At the moment, I don’t
even want to recall the details of my illegal detention and illegitimate
isolation from the outside world,” Kravchenko said in a statement
posted on the City Council’s website. “Today I’m alive and free.”
The mayor said he had never breached the loyalty oath he had given to the people of Luhansk.
“Our team has continued to work to provide vital economic support for
Luhansk despite the many daily difficulties caused by unceasing armed
clashes, but we haven’t been taking about that, we’ve just been working.
The many reproaches and accusations are so many words that are purely
groundless,” he said.
After Kravchenko’s arrest, Svoboda issued a statement accusing him of
helping the local illegal armed formations and saying this explained
his detention. The City Council said the mayor was detained during a
journey to Kyiv, where he was going “to raise the problem of vital
economic support for Luhansk, where the situation is critical today,
with the leadership of the country.
