Two Russian Soldiers Captured by Ukrainian Servicemen

On May 18, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces hosted a briefing. Chief of the General Staff, Colonel General Viktor Muzhenko reported:

“On May 16, there was fighting between sabotage and reconnaissance group of militants and Ukrainian forces near the town of Shchastya (Luhansk region). During this fighting, servicemen of the 92nd Detached Mechanized Brigade captured two Russian Special Forces soldiers”.

These soldiers are Captain Euvhen Yerofeyev, Leading Officer of the Special Forces Group, 3rd Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, and Sergeant Olexander Aleksandrov. They are servicemen of the 3rd Detached Guard Brigade of Special Forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff (military unit 21208, Tolyatti).

According to Captain Euvhen Yerofeyev and Sergeant Olexander Aleksandrov, they arrived to militant-controlled territory within their brigade in March 2015 and accomplished sabotage and reconnaissance tasks against Ukrainian units.

Captain Euvhen Yerofeyev, Leading Officer of the Special Forces Group, 3rd Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces

Sergeant Olexander Aleksandrov, serviceman of the 3rd Detached Guard Brigade of Special Forces of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Russian General Staff (military unit 21208, Tolyatti).

The Russian servicemen had a Russian assault rifle and a special sniper rifle which Russian Special Forces soldiers are armed with.

This 9mm special sniper rifle (also called Serdyukov Sniper Rifle, VSS, ‘Vintorez’) is not used by Ukrainian servicemen as it is a Russian Federation weapon used by Special Forces units.

On May 19, Ukrainian Security Service released video of interrogation of the captured Russian soldiers.

ACCESS OF RUSSIAN CONSUL TO DETAINED RUSSIAN SERVICEMEN. ONLY FACTS:

Qualified medical aid was rendered to the captured Russian servicemen and now they are in Kyiv. On May 26, Russian consul visited Yerofeyev and Aleksandrov. There is evidence proving the Russian citizenship of the captured servicemen, their addresses, education, employment, and relatives living in the Russian Federation.