The SBU, Ukraine’s Security Service, detained two Russian officers working for the JCCC (Joint Centre for Control and Coordination to resolve the Donbas conflict). The military men are suspected in collaboration with self-proclaimed DPR and LPR, organizations of Russia-led militants in eastern Ukraine. SBU Head Vasyl Grytsak said this at a Tuesday briefing.
According to him, on January 27, Major Alexandr Kornik and Captain Sergei Kutsenko, both of being servicemen of the Russian Armed Forces, were detained at a border checkpoint by Ukrainian border guards. The officers carried classified textbooks on military science, which were confiscated.
Here's a video with the interview of a detained Russian member of the JCCC.
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The officers also carried symbols and emblems of the so-called DPR and LPR, Grytsak added.
The Russian side so far hasn’t commented on these statements; however, the Kremlin repeatedly denied it provides any support to pro-Russia militants in Donbas, as stated by the Ukrainian government and Western countries.
The Joint Centre for Control and Coordination, created in September 2014, is supposed to monitor the ceasefire on the territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions in eastern Ukraine. The Centre involves Ukrainian and Russian military officers, as well as OSCE representatives.
Most recently, 112 International reported that Russia performed an operability test of its troops stationed in the Southern Military District that neighbors eastern Ukraine.
