The Russian intelligence services earlier
reported that two service members had lost their bearings during a training
exercise near Crimea and were detained by Ukraine’s border guards.
MOSCOW,
March 2. /TASS/. The Kremlin is glad that Russia and Ukraine exchanged detained
border guards, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Friday.
"The
Kremlin is satisfied that it was possible to complete the exchange of two
Russian border guards - Vladimir Kuznetsov and Askar Kulub - for two Ukrainian
border guards - Bogdan Martson and Igor Dzyubak," Peskov said. "We
are glad that our Russian border guards returned home," he added.
The Kremlin spokesman highlighted the role of the leader of the Ukrainian Choice - People’s Right social movement and the special representative for humanitarian issues in the contact group on peaceful settlement of the situation in Donbass, Viktor Medvedchuk.
"On
February 22, Viktor Medvedchuk, who is handling humanitarian and detainee
exchange issues, was in Moscow and had contacts in Kiev. As a result, chiefly
due to his efforts and, naturally, based on the political will demonstrated by
both sides, the border guards’ exchange became possible," Peskov said.
The Russian
intelligence services earlier reported that two service members, Askar Kulub
and Vladimir Kuznetsov, had lost their bearings during a training exercise near
Armyansk, Crimea, overnight into June 30, 2017, and were detained by Ukraine’s
border guards. They were taken into custody under the court’s decision.
Two border
violators, service members of the Sumy Border Guard Detachment of the Ukrainian
State Border Guard Igor Dzyubak and Bogdan Martson, were detained in the
Bryansk Region on October 3, 2017. They were charged with the illegal border
crossing. The violators faced up to six years in jail.
Source: ITAR-TASS 02-03-2018
