REUTERS
The ransom paid to release Ukrainian armed forces servicemen held by militants is from UAH 2,000 to $10,000 per soldier, Chief of the Investigation Department of the Security Service of Ukraine Vasyliy Vovk said on Thursday, according to Ukrainian news service 112.ua, with reference to the press service of the SBU.
"The militants name different prices: from UAH 2,000 to $10,000," he said, asked about what was the average ransom per soldier.
According to Vovk, everything depends on the soldier’s own financial status.
"Ukraine is a great country, but when it comes to life and death, you can learn everything. For example, you can find out about the income of any soldier, or [that of] his relatives " he said.
"One Cossack held five of our guys in captivity. As they told, he asked for UAH 2,000 for the five of them. This is small money for a businessman. But sometimes the militants ask $50,000 for a ‘famous’ soldier. And some of them want UAH 700, but the money has to be transferred to their bank card. Many of them are scammers," Vovk said.
As UNIAN reported earlier, on March 26, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said that there were more than 400 prisoners in militant captivity.