The Ukrainian National Guard has confirmed reports that Col. Yuriy Lebid, an acting chief of the Ukrainian Interior Forces' Eastern territorial command, has been abducted by unidentified people in Donetsk region.

Unidentified gunmen abducted Lebid using force on the evening of May 12, when he was on his way home, the Ukrainian National Guard reported on its Web site.

The law enforcement is conducting an investigation into the incident.

Dmytro Obraztsov, the chief spokesman for the Eastern territorial command, told Komsomolskaya Pravda in Ukraine that Lebid had been abducted at about midnight on May 12. "The colonel was on his way home without any escort (he has no bodyguards). Unidentified people stopped him near his home, forced him into a car and drove him in an unknown direction," he said.

Obraztsov said there are witnesses of the abduction, but their testimony is of little value, as none of them could recall the exact number of the abductors, or how they were armed, or what vehicle they were driving.

Lebid has served as acting chief of the Eastern territorial command for about one month. He earlier headed the Tiger special forces regiment in Crimea, which patrolled the most dangerous points in Kyiv during the recent Euromaidan events. The Eastern territorial command comprises eight units, including four in Donetsk region, two in the Sumy region, and one each in Luhansk and Kharkiv regions.