Moscow demands release of Russian journalists detained by Ukrainian authorities

MOSCOW (Xinhua) - The Russian Foreign Ministry has demanded that Kiev take urgent measures and release the two journalists from the Russian TV channel Zvezda (the Star), who were detained near Slovyansk in eastern Ukraine Friday.

"We are calling on the Ukrainian authorities to stop the illegal actions against Russian and foreign groups and provide safe conditions for their professional activities in compliance with international norms and standards," said a statement released by the ministry Saturday.

Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov said the embassy will do its best and that he will sign a note to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry soon on the issue.

The Russian Foreign Ministry's human rights envoy Konstantin Dolgov confirmed that the Russian embassy in Ukraine had joined the efforts to release the journalists and sent a letter to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

The TV channel Zvezda said earlier at its website that its two journalists - Andrei Sushenkov and Anton Malyshev - entered Ukraine officially Wednesday to report the presidential inauguration of Petro Poroshenko Saturday, but lost contact after they were stopped at a checkpoint in the Donetsk Region on their way to Slavyansk.

The detainees were accused by Ukrainian National Guards of "watching a checkpoint,"  according to the Itar-Tass news agency.

The whereabouts of the two was yet to be confirmed.

A senior official with Zvezda said Saturday that there was still no feedback. "The Ukrainian side keeps silent, it has not reacted to our appeal posted on the website."