The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has confirmed that from 60 to 80 servicemen of the first separate Feosodia Marines battalion of the Ukrainian Navy have been captured by Russian troops in Crimea.

"At around 0420 on March 24, Russian invaders in Crimea, grossly violating the preliminary agreement to hold talks on a truce, started assaulting the first separate Feodosia Marines battalion of the Ukrainian Navy. Russian troops landed from two Mi-8 helicopters on the territory of the Ukrainian military unit when the assault began. A pair of Russian Mi-24s supported the landing of the troops from the air," the ministry's press service reported.

Moreover, the Russian side used stun grenades and automatic weapons, including machine guns. Russian Armed Forces servicemen surrounded the perimeter of the battalion, blocked the road to it with two armored personnel carriers and started seizing the barracks.

"Several URAL trucks, with tied up Ukrainian Marines on board, left the territory of the Marines battalion at 0600. According to preliminary reports, several Ukrainian servicemen sustained various injuries as a result of the assault. The most injured were the battalion's commander, Lieutenant Colonel Dmytro Deliatytsky, and his assistant on work with staff, Major Rostyslav Lomtev, whom the attackers pushed to the ground and kicked them in the face. After that the two Ukrainian officers were taken by helicopter to an unknown location," reads the report.

The Defense Ministry also reported that Russian military had prevented the injured Ukrainian servicemen from being sent to hospitals to undergo the necessary medical care.

From 60 to 80 Ukrainian Marines have currently been detained and are actually in the captivity of Russian military at the Feodosia maritime port. Constant psychological pressure is being exerted on them.

According to the servicemen of the Marines battalion, "the main demand of the Russian invaders is the forced removal from Crimea to the mainland Ukraine of officers of the Ukrainian military unit, and only after that other representatives of the personnel will be released from captivity."

The Defense Ministry also said that the question of granting these Ukrainian servicemen the status of "combatants" and providing them with other guarantees and social benefits was currently being considered at a high level.