SIMFEROPOL, March 27 (RIA Novosti) - Four Ukrainian servicemen who were detained in Crimea on suspicion of assisting terrorist groups in the Ukrainian breakaway region have been released, a local news agency said Thursday.
The servicemen, including Maj. Gen. Ihor Voronchenko, deputy commander of the Ukrainian Navy, and Col. Yuri Mamchur, commander of the Ukrainian garrison at the Belbek air base, Crimea, went missing last week, according to media reports.
The KrymInform news agency reported Thursday citing local authorities that the servicemen were freed as they had refused to comply with the "criminal orders" from the Kiev authorities and cooperated with law enforcement during the questioning.
The released officers are reportedly on their way from Crimea to Chonhar in Kherson region, in southern Ukraine.
Shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree last Friday to ratify the reunification treaty, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said those soldiers wishing to continue their service with the Ukrainian armed forces were free to leave Crimea and will receive the required assistance to do so.
The Russian Defense Ministry said over the weekend that less than 15 percent of the 18,000 Ukrainian troops stationed in Crimea decided to leave the peninsula after it rejoined Russia last week.
Crimea, previously an autonomous republic within Ukraine, refused to recognize the legitimacy of the government in Kiev which seized power as a result of a coup and joined Russia following a referendum.
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