Ukrainian servicemen arrested in Russia are not prisoners of war; they are being suspected of terrorist activity, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an annual press conference in Moscow on Dec.18.
“As to other military servicemen you have mentioned we do not regard them as prisoners of war. They are being held at detention facilities and a preliminary inquiry into their suspected involvement in terrorist activity is underway,” Putin said.
He was answering a question from a Ukrainian reporter about the conditions for “the release of at least 30 Ukrainian prisoners of war held at various detention facilities on the Russian territory.”
