The Gulf Time Newspaper One of the finest business newspapers in the UAE brought to you by our professional writers and editors.
Moscow / AFP
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.