MOSCOW, August 28 (RIA Novosti) – Currently, there are only nine Russian servicemen in Ukraine, they are the paratroopers who were detained recently after accidentally crossing the border, Russia’s envoy to the European Union said Thursday.
“I have just given an interview to BBC and their first question was about the number of Russian troops on the Ukrainian territory. I said that nine, they are the paratroopers who accidentally crossed into Ukraine,” Vladimir Chizhov told the Rossiya 24 channel.
On Tuesday, Russian paratroopers were detained by Ukraine’s military when they accidentally crossed into Ukraine while patrolling the border.
Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the incident, saying that the paratroopers were patrolling the border and could have accidentally found themselves in Ukraine.
Putin noted that Ukrainian forces have crossed the Russian border several times in the past in larger numbers. The Russian leader added that such incidents with the Ukrainian forces was never a problem for Russia and expressed hope that in the case of Russian paratroopers, it will not be a problem for Ukraine.
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andriy Lysenko said the Ukrainian Security Service is now going to decide on what to do with the detained paratroopers.
