You're reading: Warsaw denies that Polish mercenaries taken prisoner by militants in east Ukraine

 Warsaw on June 9 denied a claim that alleged Polish mercenaries who had been fighting on the Ukrainian government's side against a militia in eastern Ukraine had been taken prisoner by local unlawful armed groups.

 “I do not confirm the information about the detention by separatists of citizens of the Republic of Poland among mercenaries in eastern Ukraine. That is an element of black PR,” Polish Foreign Ministry spokesman Marcin Wojciechowski said on Twitter.

Earlier, spokesman for the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic” Myroslav Rudenko had claimed that their forces had detained a group of foreign mercenaries, among them several dark-skinned men and nationals of Eastern European countries including Poland.

The Ukrainian government has repeatedly denied that there are any mercenaries in the ranks of its troops fighting eastern Ukrainian militias.