Ukraine separatists free Swedish observer on medical grounds
Reuters
2014-04-27
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ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
One of the eight European observers being detained by pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukraine city of Slaviansk on Sunday (April 27) evening was escorted to an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) vehicle and driven away.
The man was brought to the city administration by masked separatists and later walked out escorted by three unarmed men, got into a white OSCE jeep and drove off. The group declined to answer reporters' questions.
Stella Khorosheva, a spokeswoman for the separatist mayor of Slaviansk, said the observer who left is a Swedish national.
Asked if he was the only one of the observers who was to be released on Sunday, she replied: "Yes."
The observers, from Germany, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic as well as Sweden, were accused by their captors of spying for NATO and using the OSCE mission as a cover.
The OSCE, a European security body, includes Russia as well as NATO
One of the eight European observers being detained by pro-Russian separatists in the eastern Ukraine city of Slaviansk on Sunday (April 27) evening was escorted to an Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) vehicle and driven away.
The man was brought to the city administration by masked separatists and later walked out escorted by three unarmed men, got into a white OSCE jeep and drove off. The group declined to answer reporters' questions.
Stella Khorosheva, a spokeswoman for the separatist mayor of Slaviansk, said the observer who left is a Swedish national.
Asked if he was the only one of the observers who was to be released on Sunday, she replied: "Yes."
The observers, from Germany, Denmark, Poland and the Czech Republic as well as Sweden, were accused by their captors of spying for NATO and using the OSCE mission as a cover.
The OSCE, a European security body, includes Russia as well as NATO
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