Kidnappings have been on the rise as the situation in eastern Ukraine has deteriorated. Before VICE News correspondent Simon Ostrovsky was released, Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, Sloviansk’s self-appointed “people’s mayor," told reporters that he and the other detainees were being held as “bargaining chips” in negotiations with authorities in Kyiv.
Russia's War Against Ukraine
Vice News: These people are still being held by armed separatists in Ukraine
A pro-Russia activist hangs a flag of the so-called \"People's Republic of Donetsk\" on the regional administration building seized by separatists as armed men in military fatigues guard the premises in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk.
