KIEV, Ukraine, May 29 (UPI) -- Four members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's special monitoring mission in Ukraine have been taken hostage by pro-Russian separatists.
They have been held since Monday by a group identified by Stella Khorosheva, spokeswoman for the people's Mayor of Sloviansk, as the Sloviansk self-defense forces. "The have been detained ... We had warned them not to go near defense positions, but they did not heed the warning, and we had to detain them," she said.
The spokeswoman alleged that "some of the detained did not belong to the OSCE mission. They have been kept captive until all circumstances are clarified." She did not specify what "circumstances" require clarification.
When asked where the captives were being held, Khorosheva responded "they were not in Sloviansk."
Ukrainian foreign ministry information policy department director Yevhen Perebyinis confirmed that the four OSCE monitors "are being detained by a pro-Russia group and work on their release is being continued now."
Read More
- Ukrainian National Guard helicopter shot down in eastern region, killing 15 military servicemen
- Ukrainian President-elect Poroshenko vows more military action against pro-Russian separatists
- Incoming Ukrainian president says he won't negotiate with separatists
- Negotiation with Russia impossible without mediator, says Ukrainian PM
- Dozens of pro-Russian separatists killed in Donetsk