The detention of the OSCE inspector was carried out last Friday by order of the Russian military intelligence agency GRU. The spokesperson for the Ukrainian secret service SBU announced this in Kyiv today. Said to be confirmed by intercepted conversations, which were captured by orders issued. The action against the soldiers, among whom was also a senior Czech army officer, was allegedly directed by GRU agent Igor Bezler.
According to SBU spokeswoman Maryna Ostapenko, the arrest of the OSCE mission was planned by a spy group around GRU colonel Igor Strelkov, who, according to Ukrainian media, controls the actions of the Slavic separatists. Direct orders, according to wiretapping, were given by Strelkov’s direct subordinate Bezler. According to the SBU, Strelkov’s real name is Girkin.
“The detention took place on the direct orders of saboteur Igor Bezler (nickname Bes). This is evidenced by recordings of Bezler’s telephone conversations with his subordinates,” Ostapenko told a press conference. The SBU has issued an arrest warrant for Girkin-Strelkov and charged him with preparation for murder, sabotage and threats to the sovereignty of Ukraine.
Slavic separatist leader Vyacheslav Ponomarjov said today in Slavyansk that the detained members of the military mission were feeling good and that the pro-Russian rebels “did not regard them as prisoners, but guests.” The military inspectors, among whom was a Czech, rebelled according to Ponomarjev they wanted to exchange jailed separatistsespecially for the deputy of the arrested Ponomaryev, Igor Perepechayenko.
A spokesman for the arrested OSCE mission member, Axel Schneider (ČTK/AP).
A group of military observers was detained by the rebels on Friday when the bus carrying the OSCE mission arrived in Slavyansk. Among the detainees, whom the rebels regarded as spies, were also members of the Czech army.
Swedish mission member Ingvi Thomas Johansson, who has mild diabetes, on Sunday released from captivity. Apart from the Czech lieutenant colonel and the liberated Swedes, members of the mission included soldiers from Germany, Poland and Denmark. “We have created comfortable conditions for them. He feels good. They are not prisoners, they are our guests,” Ponomaryev told Interfax.
Slavic rebel commanders are said to be prepared to negotiate an exchange of detained foreign controllers with jailed “federalization advocates”. Ponomarjov stated that it was primarily his representative Perepechayenko. According to Ukrainian media, the activist was arrested in Donetsk when he was returning from a talk show he was filming in Moscow for one of the Russian television channels.
Perephayenko was allegedly detained by Ukrainian counterintelligence agents at Donetsk airport on Friday. “We don’t know anything about his fate,” Ponomaryev said. “Many of our other comrades are in the hands of the junta. If the opportunity arises, we are ready to exchange,” he added. He refused to answer other questions from journalists regarding the fate of the detained OSCE mission soldiers.
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