04 July 2019, Thursday, 20:18 288

SBU Detains Ex-Head Of DPR Air Defense Brigade, Court Orders His Arrest

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Редактор: Daria Zubkova

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has detained the former head of the Slavic air defense brigade of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Volodymyr Tsemakh, and a court has ordered his arrest.

Tsemakh’s lawyer Roman Hontarev announced this to Ukrainian News Agency.

"He is being held in Kyiv as a suspect," said the lawyer.

The court ordered arrest of Tsemakh for 60 days as a preventive measure.

The lawyer said he would meet with his client and an investigator on July 5.

He declined to provide further details, citing the secrecy of the relevant investigation.

Earlier, separatist media reports claimed that Ukrainian special forces had detained Tsemakh in the non-government-controlled Snizhne (Donetsk region) at the end of June and transferred him to a government-controlled territory.

As the militants’ former chief of air defense, Tsemakh could be a valuable witness in the case involving the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 with a Buk anti-aircraft missile in Donetsk region on July 17, 2014.

As Ukrainian News Agency earlier reported, on June 19, an international team of investigators announced that four militants with the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic were suspected of involvement in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 in Donbas in 2014.

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