KURSK REGION. March 12 (Interfax) - Troops captures by the Russian Armed Forces during the operation in the Kursk region should be treated as terrorists, Russian President Vladimir Putin said.
"[Russian Armed Forces General Staff Chief] Valery Vasilyevich [Gerasimov] has just mentioned captives. Well, we certainly should treat these people as terrorists in accordance with the laws of the Russian Federation in the first place," Putin said during a meeting at a command post of the Kursk group of forces.
"We treat and should treat all people in the future humanely. Everyone who ends up in our hands. At the same time, I would like to remind you that foreign mercenaries are not subject to the Geneva Convention of 1949 on prisoners of war," Putin said at the meeting the footage of which was broadcast by the Rossiya 24 (VGTRK) television channel.