The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has begun a pretrial investigation in criminal proceedings against Russian border guards detained in the Kherson region under the article "Encroachment on the territorial integrity and inviolability of Ukraine" (Part 2, Article 110 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine).

The pretrial investigation was started on July 3, the SBU's press center told the Kyiv-based Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

"The investigation found out that Russian citizens, FSB officers - deputy chief of the reserve outpost of the military unit No. 9930 Askar Kulub and head of the dog team of the military unit No. 9930 Vladimir Kuznetsov in the period from December 2016 to June 30, 2017 had been performing official tasks in the interests of the Russian Federation with the aim of changes in the borders of the territory or state border of Ukraine," the SBU said.

The detained Russian border guards are currently being held at a provisional detention facility, and the investigation continues, it said.

"In the near future, Security Service investigators will notify the FSB personnel that they are suspected of infringing upon Ukraine's territorial integrity and inviolability and will ask a court to take them into custody as a restrictive measure," it said.

As reported, border guards of the Kherson detachment in cooperation with the Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen detained two unidentified persons without documents in the Kherson region in the early hours of June 30, 2017, and subsequently established that the detainees are servicemen of the Russian Security Service's Border Guard Service.