MOSCOW. June 27 (Interfax) - An employee of the Anna-News agency, Vlad Alexandrovich, who was detained by Ukrainian government forces in Mariupol, has been transferred to Zaporizhzhya, the militia's Southeast Front information center coordinator Kostyantyn Knyrik told Interfax on Friday.
"Vlad was transferred to Zaporizhzhya. We are preparing to begin negotiations on his release. We may exchange him," he said.
Knyrik also claims that the detained journalist was beaten.
"We know for certain that Vlad was beaten. Afterwards, they obviously forced him to disclose the passwords to his page on the agency's website, where they posted a video about the so-called "heroes of the anti-terrorist operation"," Knyrik said.
Alexandrovich was abducted in Mariupol, southeastern Ukraine, on June 25. According to Knyrik, Alexandrovich, a citizen of Ukraine, returned to his hometown of Mariupol in order to film the city's destroyed infrastructure.