Russian journalists held by Ukraine Security Service - TV website

Two journalists of Russia’s Zvezda TV channel are held in Dnepropetrovsk, southeastern Ukraine, by the Ukrainian Security Service, the website of the television channel reports on Sunday.

The leadership of Zvezda has managed to establish that correspondent Yevgeny Davydov and sound engineer Nikita Konashenkov were detained on Saturday at a check point of the Ukrainian National Guard near the settlement of Pokrovskoye, after which they were moved to Dnepropetrovsk.

The TV channel notes that the journalists were on an official mission and had all necessary documents and airline tickets on them.

“The leadership of the television channel appeals to Ukrainian President Pyotr Poroshenko with a request to set free Yevgeny Davydov and Nikita Konoshenkov, as well as to ensure their safety. The detention of Russian journalists … violates norms of international law and the Geneva Convention, in particular,” the TV channel reports.

This is a second incident in which Zvezda reporters have been detained in Ukraine. In earlier developments, two Zvezda journalists, Andrey Sushenkov and Anton Malyshev, who came to Ukraine to cover the inauguration of President-elect Pyotr Poroshenko, were detained on June 6 and later released.