European military observers say no mistreatment by insurgents
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EIGHT European military observers held prisoner by pro-Russia insurgents in eastern Ukraine appeared in public yesterday and gave assurances that they weren’t being mistreated, but there was no indication they would be released soon.
The insurgents in Slovyansk have taken a number of people hostage, including journalists and pro-Ukraine activists, as they strengthen their control in the east of the country in defiance of the interim government in Kiev and its Western supporters. Yesterday, they captured three Ukrainian security service officers.
Colonel Axel Schneider from Germany, who spoke for the group of military observers, stressed that they were on a diplomatic mission under the auspices of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe when detained on Friday and weren’t spying for NATO, as the insurgents claim.
The observers, who appeared nervous, were in the custody of armed men wearing camouflage fatigues and black balaclavas, who escorted them into the Slovyansk city hall for the news conference and led them away later. Schneider said they were being treated as well as possible under the circumstances.
“The mayor of this city granted us his protection and he regarded us as his guests,” Schneider said in Slovyansk, which has become the center of the pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine. “I can tell you that the word of the mayor is a word of honor. We have not been touched.”
Schneider said he had no information about when they would be released and that this was a matter for diplomats of their countries. In addition to three German officers and a civilian interpreter, the group also includes officers from Poland, Sweden, Denmark and the Czech Republic.
Schneider said he understood the self-proclaimed mayor, Vyacheslav Ponomarev, could use them as a bargaining chip.
“Our presence here in Slovyansk is for sure a political instrument for the decision makers here in the region and the possibility to use it for negotiations,” Schneider said. Ponomarev said on Saturday the observers could be released in exchange for jailed pro-Russia activists.
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