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| Europe |
| Ukraine Pro-Russian Separatists Say They've Detained International Observers |
| 2014-04-26 |
| [VOA News] Pro-Russian separatists say they've detained a group of international observers after finding a Ukrainian spy traveling with them. "They are with us in Slovyansk," Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, a separatist leader, told Rooters. He made the comments in front of the seized security service building where the Ukrainian government says the observers are being held. "What the situation was I do not know," Ponomaryov said. "It was reported to me that among them [the observers] was an employee of Kyiv's secret military staff. People who come here as observers bringing with them a real spy: it's not appropriate." The monitors work for the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe and its teams are currently deployed in nine locations in Ukraine. The interior ministry in Kyiv said the detained group includes 7 OSCE representatives and five members of the Ukrainian armed forces who were accompanying them. On his Twitter account, Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt called for the group's immediate release: "Extremely concerned with OSCE inspectors being kidnapped in Eastern Ukraine. Including one Swede. They must be released immediately." |
| Posted by:Fred |