Washington – The U.S. State Department doubts that the Russian citizens detained in Ukraine are actually journalists.
“Reportedly, they were carrying man-portable anti-aircraft missiles in the trunks of their cars at the time of their detention… And certainly that raises some questions about these individuals and whether they were actually journalists,” U.S. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki said at a briefing on Tuesday referring to a report of the Ukrainian security service.
“Well, we would condemn, of course, the unlawful detention of journalists in any capacity. I will say on the specific – I don’t have any details on the new report of the British journalist, so I’ll have to look into that,” she said.
On May 18 Ukrainian troops in Kramatorsk held LifeNews journalists Marat Saichenko and Oleg Sidyakin. Later they were brought to Kyiv for questioning.
Ukrainian Security Service spokesperson Maryna Ostapenko said that the journalists confessed to having entered Ukrainian territory not as journalists; they arrived without press cards, and they said at the border that the purpose of their visit is to attend.
British journalist Graham Phillips, who cooperates with Russia Today, was reportedly also detained n Ukraine, according to Russia Today.
