'Russian soldiers' face trial in Ukraine

KIEV, Ukraine

A Kiev court on Friday remanded in custody two Russian soldiers captured in eastern Ukraine.

Judge Valentina Malinovskaya, sitting at Shevchenkovskiy District Court, ordered Yevgeny Yerofeyev and Aleksandr Aleksandrov detained to July 19 on charges of involvement in "terrorist activity".

Both soldiers are currently being treated at Kiev military hospital for wounds sustained immediately before their capture.

Ukrainian authorities said earlier that the soldiers, who were captured near the town of Shchastya on May 16, would be put on trial rather than be treated as prisoners of war.

Kiev sent a note of protest to Moscow on Tuesday over the involvement of Russian servicemen in fighting in eastern Ukraine, local officials said.

The move came a day after Kiev posted video online of what it claimed to be the two soldiers.

Dmitriy Kuleba, an official from the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, told journalists on Tuesday that the presence of Russian soldiers in Ukraine violated international law and February’s Minsk cease-fire agreement.

He demanded an explanation from Russia over the presence of Yerofeyev and Aleksandrov in Ukraine. Kiev claims they were fighting alongside pro-Russian separatists.

In the video, Yerofeyev identifies himself as a lieutenant in the Russian army, adding that his unit crossed the border into Ukraine’s Luhansk region in April.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) issued a report on Thursday saying officials had interviewed the men and reported they had entered Ukraine on a reconnaissance mission.

"One of them said he had received orders from his military unit to go to Ukraine,” the OSCE report said. “He was to 'rotate' after three months. Both of them said they had been to Ukraine 'on missions' before."

Moscow denies the claims, saying the men were not active members of the Russian armed forces at the time of their capture.