"The Armed Forces of Ukraine have never held or been holding hostage or captive any civilians or combatants who are suspected of terrorist activity in territory of Donetsk and Luhansk regions," the ministry said in a statement.
The ministry claims the Armed Forces of Ukraine act in strict accordance with the current legislation, neither keep any persons detained during the conflict in the east of Ukraine nor use the Defense Ministry's facilities for this purpose.
"Detaining persons suspected of undermining the basic principles of national security, committing crimes to forcibly change or overthrow constitutional order or seize state power, carry out an act of terror or commit any other offense is the prerogative of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)," the ministry said.
And the SBU applies a preventive measure – detention – to them in keeping with a court ruling, the ministry added.
Announcements about detention, criminal proceedings, court hearings are posted on the SBU's official Web site. They are also topics for briefings and interviews with SBU chiefs.
Amnesty International has earlier reported about abuses and tortures of prisoners of war by both sides to the Donbas conflict.
