Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has spoken to Hromadske TV journalists Anastasia Stanko and Illia Bezkorovainy, who were recently freed by militants in eastern Ukraine, over the phone, the presidential press service has reported.

"I was relieved to hear this news. Each report saying that people were taken hostage brings pain to my heart, especially when these people are journalists, who have to travel to the conflict area due to their profession," Poroshenko was quoted as saying by his press service.

The Ukrainian National Guard's information security chief, Yuriy Stets, who was in charge of coordinating the efforts to free Stanko and Bezkorovainy, reiterated the need for journalists to better inform the authorities of their plans to visit the area of the military operation in southeastern Ukraine.

"We did everything in our power with the help of Interior Minister Arsen Avakov and the heads of other security services, we activated all our channels in order to make sure that the journalists were freed alive and well. But I advise you to coordinate your further plans in the area of the anti-terrorist operation with the Interior Ministry," Stets said.

The head of the self-proclaimed "Luhansk People's Republic", Valeriy Bolotov, said on Wednesday that Hromadeske TV journalists Stanko and Bezkorovainy had been let go "at the request of leading Russian television channels".

"While in our custody, they were held in conditions not violating human dignity and were not subjected to physical or psychological pressure," Bolotov added.

A Hromadske TV spokesman confirmed this information.

The journalists were detained on June 30. Bolotov said on the same day that they were "accused of espionage and complicity with the Ukrainian authorities".