Ukraine seizes 10 Russian soldiers

Moscow says its personnel crossed border
"accidentally" , as presidents of Russia and
Ukraine set to hold talks .
Ukraine has said that its forces have captured 10
Russian soldiers in the east of the country but
Moscow has claimed the soldiers crossed the
border accidentally .
The development comes as the president of
Russia, Vladimir Putin, and his Ukrainian
counterpart Petro Poroshenko were getting ready
to meet on Tuesday in Belarus in the presence of
EU foreign affairs chief .
The Facebook page for the Ukraine's anti- rebel
operation, which includes the military , the
national guard and interior ministry forces, said
on Tuesday that the soldiers were from a Russian
paratrooper division and were captured on
Monday in the area of Amvrosiivka , near the
Russian border in the Donetsk region .
The posting did not give details of how the
capture took place. It posted videos of five men
it said were among the captives, one of whom
said the soldiers had been told they were being
mobilised to take part in military exercises .
'Accidental crossing'
Russian news agencies quoted an unnamed source
in the Russian defence ministry as saying that
the soldiers were patrolling the border area and
probably crossed the border inadvertently .
"The soldiers really did participate in a patrol of
a section of the Russian -Ukrainian border ,
crossed it by accident on an unmarked section ,
and as far as we understand showed no
resistance to the armed forces of Ukraine when
they were detained , " a source from Russia 's
defence ministry was quoted by Russian news
agency RIA Novosti as saying on Tuesday .
Ukraine said on Tuesday that Russian helicopters
had attacked a border post in Luhansk region
the previous day, killing four border guards .
The Ukrainian troops have been fighting pro-
Russia rebels in the east of the country for
around four months.
Kiev and the US have repeatedly accused Moscow
of stoking the rebellion , but this is the first time
Ukrainian authorities claimed to have taken
captive soldiers from Russia 's regular army .
On Monday, Ukraine said 10 tanks and two
armored vehicles belonging to the Russian
military crossed into southeastern Ukraine
bearing the flags of the self - proclaimed Donetsk
People 's Republic.
On the same day, the Ukrainian president
dissolved parliament and called for early
elections on October 26 .
"Many deputies who are in the Rada
[parliament ] are direct sponsors or accomplices ,
that is to say allies of the militant separatists , "
Poroshenko said in a statement posted on his
website.
Tuesday 's talks , expected to begin after 1100 GMT
in the Belarussian capital of Minsk , will include
European Union foreign policy chief Catherine
Ashton and the leaders of Belarus and
Kazakhstan, partners in a Russian - led customs
union.
Since Putin and Poroshenko last met on June 6 in
France , Ukraine has turned the tide of the
conflict and largely encircled pro- Russian rebels
holding out in two cities in the east of the former
Soviet republic.