Journalists visited Russians detained in Ukraine, who call themselves existing military personnel

A group of journalists was passed to the Russians, Evgeny Erofeev and Alexander Alexandrov, who were caught in the Lugansk region. The detainees did not confirm, but did not refute the statements of the Security Service of Ukraine that they are current military personnel of the Russian army, the New Gazeta reports.

The author of the article notes that before visiting journalists they asked not to ask men any questions, referring to the order from above and the request of the detainees themselves. The ward in which Russian citizens are located are guarded by two people in black masks.

Erofeev, who was the first to show journalists, covering his face with his hand, said that they were treating him well in the hospital. Aleksandrov correspondent asked if he served in the Russian army. The man said in response: "We agreed - without question." The detainees asked the relatives that they were doing well.

Earlier, the Ukrainian media distributed a video, which is claimed, the interrogation of one of the prisoners is shown. A young man lying on a hospital bed calls himself Sergeant Alexander Alexandrov and says that he serves under a contract in the 3rd Brigade of the GRU special forces in Togliatti. He calls his commander Evgeny Erofeev.

The head of the SBU Valentin Nalyvaichenko said that detainees in the Luhansk region are not subject to exchange. "They are waiting for criminal liability, investigators work with them. They must answer under Article 258 of the Criminal Code - terrorist activities and terrorist crimes," he said.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation said that Aleksandrov and Erofeev at the time of the detention were not existing military personnel. The press secretary of the President of the Russian Federation Dmitry Peskov said that there were no Russian military in the Donbass. Representatives of the military registration and enlistment office of Togliatti abstained from official comments.