The number of captured Ukrainians in Donbas has grown to 137

Militants in the occupied territories of Donbas are holding 137 Ukrainians in captivity.

As reported by Yuriy Tandit, Advisor to the Chief of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), reported today during the broadcast of the 112 Ukraine TV channel.

“As of today’s date, 137 citizens of Ukraine are held hostage. Unfortunately, this number has grown in recent days due to the fact that terrorists from the ORDLO side (Certain areas of Donetsk and Luhansk regions), who are detaining our fellow citizens and illegally hold them hostage, accuse ordinary civilians of crimes they did not commit”, – he stated.

Moreover, Tandit said that this number has grown because militants are detaining people who are not even on the contact line and who do not carry any weapons.

“They were just moving (through the demarcation line – ed.) and are civilians”, – the Advisor to the Chief of the SBU said.

Thus, according to Tandit, earlier Vitaliy Rudenko was detained by militants and it was possible to release him from captivity. Militants detained him in the fall of 2016, despite the fact that he was guaranteed security.

“If we talk about Vitaliy Rudenko, this man was insidiously detained last autumn, as he was guaranteed security from the Luhansk side, he was heading to his father’s funeral. He was immediately detained as soon as he passed the contact line. He was illegally held there for many months. From the very beginning, the Ukrainian delegation in Minsk fought for his release”, – said the representative of the State Security Service.

As a reminder, at the end of April, Iryna Herashchenko, Representative of Ukraine in the Humanitarian Subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group, said that there are 127 Ukrainians are held captive in the temporarily occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions.