UKRAINE-CRISIS/RUSSIA SOLDIERS Captured Russian fighters remain in Ukrainian hospital despite exchange rumours
Record ID:
145936
UKRAINE-CRISIS/RUSSIA SOLDIERS Captured Russian fighters remain in Ukrainian hospital despite exchange rumours
- Title: UKRAINE-CRISIS/RUSSIA SOLDIERS Captured Russian fighters remain in Ukrainian hospital despite exchange rumours
- Date: 28th July 2015
- Summary: KIEV, UKRAINE (JULY 28, 2015) (REUTERS) MAN IN CAMOUFLAGE UNIFORM AND BLACK BALACLAVA WALKING THROUGH HOSPITAL CORRIDOR CAPTURED RUSSIAN FIGHTER ALEXANDER ALEXANDROV READING COPY OF AN ARTICLE FROM RUSSIAN NEWSPAPER 'RUSSIAN GAZETA.RU' CLAIMING HE WAS EXCHANGED FOR UKRAINIAN SERVICEMEN ALEXANDROV'S HAND HOLDING COPY OF AN ARTICLE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CAPTURED RUSSIAN FIGHTER, ALEXANDER ALEXANDROV, SAYING: "I haven't seen yet on TV the news that we have been exchanged, but because I am here - it means I haven't been exchanged." ALEXANDROV'S HAND HOLDING COPY OF AN ARTICLE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CAPTURED RUSSIAN FIGHTER, ALEXANDER ALEXANDROV, SAYING: "The first and last time a consul visited me was in May, Alexei Gruby and after that there has been nothing, he hasn't come." ALEXANDROV'S HAND AND ICON (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CAPTURED RUSSIAN FIGHTER, ALEXANDER ALEXANDROV, SAYING: "I talked to my mother. My mother wants to come, but she is having problems leaving the country (Russia)." JOURNALIST ASKING: "With leaving (Russia) or with not being able to enter Ukraine?" "With leaving (Russia)." VOICE OFF CAMERA ASKING: "From that side?" "Yes". ALEXANDROV'S EYES (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CAPTURED RUSSIAN FIGHTER, ALEXANDER ALEXANDROV, SAYING: "Those who are fighting they should think of their relatives, of their close ones. Because if something happens no one will replace them for the relatives. And to those who are now on the territory of the Russian Federation (I want to say): you should watch mass media less and try to figure out of what's happening yourselves, because there are plenty of other sources (of information) for example on the internet, which can be more objective." VARIOUS OF PHOTOGRAPHS OF ALEXANDROV AND HIS WIFE ON TABLE YURIY TANDYT, ADVISOR TO THE HEAD OF UKRAINE'S SECURITY SERVICE, SITTING NEXT TO BED OF ANOTHER CAPTURED RUSSIAN FIGHTER YEVGENY YEROFEYEV YEROFEYEV'S ARM IN SUPPORT BANDAGE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CAPTURED RUSSIAN FIGHTER, YEVGENY YEROFEYEV, SAYING: "All is well, my hand is in place. The nerve had been stitched back, the bone reconnected, soon the arm will start functioning." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CAPTURED RUSSIAN FIGHTER, YEVGENY YEROFEYEV, SAYING: "She is constantly in contact, calls on Skype, on the phone." VOICE OFF CAMERA ASKING: "Who is it?" "My wife." (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CAPTURED RUSSIAN FIGHTER, YEVGENY YEROFEYEV, SAYING: "There are prospects. VOICE OFF CAMERA ASKING "What for?" "There are prospects of an exchange." YEROFEYEV'S FACE (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) CAPTURED RUSSIAN SOLDIER, YEVGENY YEROFEYEV, SAYING: "While being here and seeing your television and observing people - I have made certain conclusions. That everything is not that as it is shown on TV." VOICE OFF CAMERA ASKING: "What conclusions?" "That everything is not the same as it is shown on TV." BOOK ON BED VARIOUS OF YEROFEYEV TALKING TO TANDYT (SOUNDBITE) (Russian) ADVISOR TO THE HEAD OF UKRAINE'S SECURITY SERVICE, YURIY TANDYT, SAYING: "Preliminary information is that the trial will begin in September. We are saying that the trial should be open, it is very important for us, because these people committed crimes on Ukrainian territory. Because of the right of ownership it is our territory, we defend it, and they are not just citizens of the Russian Federation, they are not just guys who got lost, they are representatives of the elite units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation." TANDYT STANDING IN HOSPITAL HALL
- Embargoed: 12th August 2015 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Ukraine
- Country: Ukraine
- Topics: General
- Reuters ID: LVADNJQXO9P0LVINIDF12QW23VRR
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Russian fighters caught in Ukraine remained in hospital in Kiev on Tuesday (July 28), despite rumours of them being exchanged.
28-year-old Alexander Alexandrov says he's a Russian soldier who was captured in east Ukraine after being sent there on active duty with Russian special forces to help separatists fighting Kiev. He said he was serving on a three-year contract.
Yet Russian authorities, in the face of widespread evidence to the contrary, have repeatedly said there are no Russian soldiers in Ukraine - only volunteers who have gone to help the separatists of their own accord.
Speaking from his hospital bed in the Ukrainian capital on Tuesday, Alexandrov said reports that he had been exchanged were demonstrably false.
"I haven't seen yet on TV the news that we have been exchanged, but because I am here - it means I haven't been exchanged," he said.
Asked if the Russian embassy representatives had been in touch with him, Alexandrov said: "The first and last time a consul visited me was in May, Alexei Gruby and after that there has been nothing, he hasn't come."
He added that he was unable to reach his wife since he had been captured but was in contact with his mother.
"I talked to my mother. My mother wants to come, but she is having problems leaving the country," he said.
Alexandrov was asked by a representative of Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) what message he would give to a Russian audience.
"Those who are fighting they should think of their relatives, of their close ones. Because if something happens no one will replace them for the relatives. And to those who are now on the territory of the Russian Federation (I want to say): you should watch mass media less and try to figure out of what's happening yourselves, because there are plenty of other sources (of information) for example on the internet, which can be more objective," Alexandrov said.
Alexandrov and another captured Russian fighter Yevgeny Yerofeyev said they served in a unit of the main intelligence directorate of the Russian general staff, based in the city of Togliatti on the Volga River.
The directorate, known by its Russian initials G.R.U., is one of the military's elite forces, usually used for highly sensitive operations.
According to their recollection of events, their unit of 200 men was sent into Ukraine on March 26. Before crossing the border they were instructed to surrender their dog tags and military identification. They were also told to swap their uniforms for mismatched camouflage fatigues to blend in with the separatist irregulars. They have been captured on May 16 in the Luhansk region.
Yerofeyev, who has been treated in the same hospital as Alexandrov, said he is feeling better and his hand is healing well.
"All is well, my hand is in place. The nerve had been stitched back, the bone reconnected, soon the arm will start functioning," he said on Tuesday.
He also said he is in contact with his wife.
When asked about the possibility of exchange, Yerofeyev replied: "There are prospects...There are prospects of an exchange."
Along with Alexandrov, Yerofeyev also criticised Russian TV coverage of the conflict in Ukraine.
"While being here and seeing your television and observing people - I have made certain conclusions. That everything is not that as it is shown on TV. That everything is not the same as it is shown on TV," he said.
Adviser to Ukraine's Security Service Head Yuriy Tandyt, who was present at interviews with both men, said the trial of the two Russian fighters will open in the autumn.
"Preliminary information is that the trial will begin in September. We are saying that the trial should be open, it is very important for us, because these people committed crimes on Ukrainian territory. Because of the right of ownership it is our territory, we defend it, and they are not just citizens of the Russian Federation, they are not just guys who got lost, they are representatives of the elite units of the armed forces of the Russian Federation," Tandyt said.
The interview with Alexandrov and Yerofeev took place two days after Ukrainian state security agents questioned a soldier suspected of being a Russian army officer who was picked up while riding in a military truck packed with ammunition in the country's east.
If he is confirmed as a Russian soldier, Ukraine is likely to use the case to bolster its charges that Russia is continuing direct involvement in the 15-month-long conflict and failing to honour a peace agreement worked out in Minsk, Belarus, in February. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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