MOSCOW - The Ukrainian charge d'affaires in Russia, Ruslan Nimchynsky, was invited to the Russian Foreign Ministry on May 25 in connection with the recent capturing by Ukrainian forces of two Russian nationals, Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Alexander Alexandrov, in eastern Ukraine.
“The Russian side stressed that, from the day of their detention, the Russian Embassy in Ukraine has been pressing for a meeting between them and the Russian consul. However, the problem remains unsolved,” the ministry said in a statement.
“The Russian side called for the [Russian consul] to be provided with access to Yerofeyev and Alexandrov as soon as possible,” it said.
The Ukrainian Security Service claims the two Russians, who were captured near the town of Schastia, Luhansk region, on May 16, are officers of the Chief Intelligence Department of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.
Both Yerofeyev and Alexandrov had been wounded before been taken prisoner – one in the arm and the other in the leg.
On May 19, Ukraine charged them with terrorism.
The day before, the Russian Defense Ministry denied in a statement that either of them was in Russia’s military service by the moment of their capture.
The Russian Embassy in Kyiv accused the Ukrainian government of deliberately preventing Russian diplomats from seeing the two prisoners.
