The Kyiv regional police have freed the chief of the electricity supply department of Ukrzaliznytsia, Valeriy Liudmyrsky, who was held hostage for eight months by kidnappers who demanded a EUR 10 million ransom, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said.

"As a result of months of complex and painstaking searches, the Kyiv regional police have conducted a brilliant operation and freed Valeriy Liudmyrsky, who was kidnapped on July 18, 2016. Two abductors were detained, the secret bunker where the hostage was held, was established, arms and explosives were confiscated," Avakov wrote on his Facebook page on Monday.

According to the minister, Liudmyrsky said he was beaten only during the abduction, the rest of the time he was not subjected to physical torture. Liudmyrsky is currently in hospital, doctors say his life and health are out of danger.

"Last night in a private house in the village of Fastovets, Kyiv region, law enforcement officers found a secret basement bunker consisting of two chambers with ventilation, lighting, water supply and sewage system, armored doors and constant video surveillance - the premises were clearly prepared to keep a hostage for a long time," Avakov said.

In his words, a Kalashnikov assault rifle, cartridges for it, foreign-produced pistols, an underbarrel grenade launcher with grenades and a kilogram of TNT were found in the next room.

The interior minister said that a Russian citizen (a Dagestanian) and a citizen of Ukraine were detained on suspicion of involvement in the crime. Measures are taken to find and detain the organizer and the mastermind of the crime.

The criminal proceeding previously launched under Article 115 (premeditated murder) was re-qualified under Article 189 (extortion) and Article 146 (illegal deprivation of liberty or abduction) of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.