International News

MOSCOW, (MILLAT+Agence France-Presse) – Russia has accused
Ukraine of abducting two Russian servicemen on the annexed Crimea peninsula,
but Kiev said it had merely detained two Ukrainian army deserters.
In a statement carried late Monday by local news agencies, the
Russian defence ministry said servicemen Maxim Odintsov and Alexander Baranov were “illegally detained and removed from Crimea by Ukrainian security forces” on Sunday.
“We consider that these actions of the Ukrainian special forces
toward Russian citizens are yet another gross provocation and demand their immediate return to Russian territory,” the statement said.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) meanwhile said the two men were
“former Ukrainian servicemen who betrayed their oath and went to serve in the Russian military after the illegal annexation of Crimea,” the Interfax-Ukraine news agency reported.
The SBU added that the men stood accused of “desertion and treason”
and had been detained “after crossing the border” between Ukraine and Russian-annexed Crimea.