Ukraine foreign minister confirms return of 48 Ukrainian soldiers from Russia

11:29, 08.08.2014 1 min read

Forty-eight Ukrainian servicemen have already returned home from Russia, and another five remain on the Russian side of the border, Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said on his Twitter page early on Friday morning.

"Our consul in Rostov-on-Don has reported that 48 soldiers have returned to Ukraine. Another five remain on the territory of the Russian Federation. We will bring them back soon," he said.

As reported, the 72nd and 79th brigades of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were actually encircled and subjected to regular shelling from militants in Ukraine and from Russian territory.

Up to 449 Ukrainian servicemen taking part in the anti-terrorist operation in Ukraine's eastern regions crossed into Russia amid heavy shelling from August 1 to August 4 with the help of OSCE observers. The soldiers said shortly afterwards that they wanted to return to Ukraine. Most of them left Russia on August 4 and August 5.