Two ex-Ukrainian soldiers who joined Russian army detained on border with Crimea

09:32, 22.11.2016 1 min read

Two deserters who joined the Russian Armed Forces in 2014 have been detained on the border with Crimea, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) said.

"It is two former Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemen who betrayed their oath and joined the Russian army [in 2014]...," SBU said on Monday evening, when commenting to Interfax on the Russian Defense Ministry's report that the Ukrainian special service had detained two Russian Armed Forces servicemen and had taken them out of Crimea.

"They were detained after crossing the border in Chonhar," SBU said, adding that it was conducting a criminal investigation against them on counts of 'desertion' and 'high treason' under the Ukrainian Penal Code.

The Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax earlier that Ukrainian special services had illegally detained two Russian servicemen and had taken them out of Crimea.