Russia detains man seeking to fight for Ukraine
Amid heightened tensions, Russia has detained a man they say was attempting to cross from Russia into Ukraine in order to join the Ukrainian armed forces.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained a Russian citizen on suspicion of state treason after he sought to travel to Ukraine to join its armed forces, the TASS news agency reported on Tuesday.
The 35-year-old man from Russia's Kabardino-Balkaria republic in the North Caucasus had been detained while trying to leave for Ukraine via Belarus, the news agency said.
"It has been established that the detained person planned to join the ranks of one of the armed formations taking part in military actions on the territory of Ukraine against the armed forces of the Russian Federation," it quoted the FSB as saying.
The detention comes at a sensitive time when Ukraine is mounting a major counteroffensive in a bid to drive Russian forces from its territory.