Russian officers fighting in eastern Ukraine ‘captured by Kyiv forces’
“There was an arrest, they were really captured. Our operatives are now working with them,” he said at a briefing in Kyiv. “There is no further information yet.”
The Russian ministry of defence has not commented on the allegations.
Russia denies that serving soldiers are involved in the war in east Ukraine, although it admits that Russian volunteers have crossed the border to support pro-Moscow separatists.
Nato and Ukrainian and Western governments believe Russian regular forces are not only present but have played decisive roles in several key battles in the war.
Ukrainian social media users claimed the officers captured on Saturday were members of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Russia’s military intelligence agency, based out of the Volga river town of Tolyatti.
Ukrainian forces first captured Russian troops in Donbas in August last year, when 10 paratroopers from the 98th Guards Airborne Division were taken prisoner.
Russia’s ministry of defence claimed at the time that the men had crossed the border “accidentally” during a routine patrol.