KIEV, May 22 (RAPSI) - Andriy Parubiy, the secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, announced that investigators are to determine if there are elements of crime in the actions of LifeNews journalists detained in eastern Ukraine.

Earlier this month, the National Guard of Ukraine arrested LifeNews journalists Oleg Sidyakin and Marat Saichenko near Kramatorsk, currently torn by fights between Kiev special forces and local militants. Ukrainian officials charged the journalists with cooperating with terrorists. Russian officials requested, including through an appeal via the OSCE, that the journalists who still remain under arrest be immediately released.

Ukraine went through a regime change on February 22, when President Viktor Yanukovich fled the country and Western-backed ultranationalist activists rose to power in Kiev. The Verkhovna Rada changed the constitution and set an early presidential election for May 25.

Several southeastern regions did not recognize the legitimacy of the newly appointed Kiev government. The special forces, controlled by Kiev, started a special operation in mid-April  involving military aircraft and armored vehicles.

The operation, which has killed and injured dozens of people, has been labeled punitive by Moscow. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said last Monday that the special operation “is terrorizing Ukrainian citizens only for their political views.”