MOSCOW. Jan 16 (Interfax) - The number of residents of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) captured by the Ukrainian military is increasing every day, Alexei Karyakin, chairman of the LPR council of ministers, said.
"Unfortunately, we can't give even the approximate number of our citizens held by the Ukrainians. This figure is constantly increasing because Ukraine continues detaining civilians, filing charges against them and fabricating criminal cases. The number of civilians held by the Ukrainians increases every day," Karyakin was quoted by the Novorossia press center as saying on Friday.
Karyakin said how people are captured by the Ukrainian military. "For example, people are taken off buses and other transport, are accused of something and detained. Kyiv has even stooped so low as to where Ukrainian Security service officials find relatives of LPR residents in Ukraine, detain them and try to lure people from the territory of the Luhansk People's Republic and, I assume, the Donetsk People's Republic," Karyakin said.
At the same time, he said no Ukrainian military are held in the LPR. "We have sent inquiries to all defense and security agencies. They have responded that they don't have any captured Ukrainian military," Karyakin said.