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Kremlin Says Trying to Free Two Russians Held by Kiev

 Russia is taking the necessary steps to free two of its citizens captured by Ukraine, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying on Friday.

"They are Russian citizens who are in detention and in this regard the Russian side is taking the necessary steps to free them," Peskov was quoted as saying by news agency RIA Novosti.

The two men told the Novaya Gazeta newspaper on Friday that they were in Ukraine on a mission for the Russian military, contradicting the official line from Moscow that they were there as private citizens.

Russia denies military involvement in the Ukraine crisis, where more than 6,100 people have been killed in fighting between government forces and pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine. 

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