Ukraine set to prosecute 'captured' Russian soldiers

Ukraine has said the two Russian soldiers who were captured from the nation's eastern rebel-held region yesterday, will be put on trial.

The BBC quoted Ukraine security service head Vitaliy Naida, as saying he was "absolutely positive" that the prisoners were Russian troopers, because, they had seized battle dress uniform and automatic rifles, which are produced only in the Russian Federation for Special Forces.

Naida further claimed that both soldiers were part of a group of 220 GRU officers deployed to Luhansk on May 2, adding that the rest had now returned to Russia.

The news came as Russia claimed that the two men held by Ukraine were no longer serving soldiers, while pro-Russia rebels in Eastern Ukraine said both were policemen from the country's Luhansk region.

The two Russian officers were caught by the volunteer Aidar Battalion in the town of Shchastia.

Ukrainian Member of Parliament Anton Herashchenko had posted a video on Facebook that purportedly showed one of the captured Russian soldiers being questioned. The young man was lying in a hospital bed, and had identified himself as Sergeant Alexander Alexandrov of the Russian Special Forces from the Volga River city of Togliatti.

So far, over 6,100 people have been killed in the conflict between pro-Russia separatists and government troops in east Ukraine.