Russia Charges in Absentia Two Ukrainians With Kidnapping Russians

Two Ukrainian nationals accused of abducting Russian servicemen in Crimea have been charged in absentia, the Russian Investigative Committee said Thursday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Last month, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) officers detained two Russian soldiers in Crimea and took them to Ukraine's Mykolaiv region with an apparent goal to press criminal charges against them.

A court in Mykolaiv arrested them for two months, with the possibility of bail. SBU head Vasyl Hrytsak specified that the Russian servicemen were detained within the framework of desertion and treason criminal cases.

"The Russian Investigative Committee’s Central Investigation Department … within the framework of an investigation into a criminal case on abduction of Russian servicemen … found Ukrainian nationals to be complicit in this crime … Deepening on their role, they were charged in absentia with ‘complicity in abduction," Svetlana Petrenko said in a statement.

The relationship between Moscow and Kiev has soured since Crimea seceded from Ukraine to rejoin Russia in March 2014. The decision was reached through a referendum with more than 96 percent of the voters choosing to join Russia.

The Crimean secession has not been recognized by Kiev and many Western countries, who consider the peninsula occupied territory.