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Ukraine says it will prosecute captured Russian soldiers for terrorist acts

19 May 2015 04:17 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Ukraine on Monday showed two prisoners it said were Russian soldiers who had killed Ukrainian troops in fighting in its east and said they would be prosecuted for "terrorist acts", APA reports quoting Reuters.

The Ukrainians seized on the capture of the two Russians, both wounded, to support their accusations of direct Russian involvement in the separatist conflict despite a ceasefire signed in February. Russia denies active military involvement.

In a video posted online by the Ukrainian interior ministry, one of the prisoners gave his name as Alexander Alexandrov. He said he had been on a spying mission in Ukraine as part of a 14-member special forces group from the Russian town of Togliatti.

"We were discovered. I was wounded in the leg as I tried to get away ... We've been here 4-5 days," he said.

The capture and possible prosecution of the two Russians and the potential embarrassment for Russia's Vladimir Putin come as the United States and its European Union allies press Moscow to fully implement the Minsk peace accords.

"We welcome the Ukraine government's public statements that they are being well taken care of and that the International Committee of the Red Cross... will be allowed access to them," U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, Victoria Nuland, said in Moscow.

More than 6,100 people have been killed and Russia-West ties plunged into crisis since pro-Moscow separatists rebelled against a pro-Western leadership when it took power in Ukraine more than a year ago. Russia accuses Kiev of violating the truce.