Berlin, April 30 (IANS) Military observers from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) detained in eastern Ukraine may be released soon, their captors were quoted as saying on Wednesday.
“It looks that there may be a release soon, without an exchange of hostages,” Xinhua quoted Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, leader of pro-Russia protesters in the eastern Ukrainian city of Slovyansk, as telling the Bild newspaper.
“We have an agreement with the OSCE and agreed to not give further details at the moment,” he said.
A German-led Vienna Document inspection team and their Ukrainian escorts were detained by protesters in Slovyansk Friday.
The team includes seven military officers – three from Germany and one each from the Czech Republic, Denmark, Poland and Sweden – and a German interpreter, along with five Ukrainian military escorts.
The Swedish inspector was released Sunday, as he reportedly suffers from diabetes. The other team members are still being held captive.