U.S. authorities urge NGOs to ignore detention of Russian journalists in Ukraine

The U.S. authorities are urging non-governmental organizations to ignore the detention of Russian journalists in Ukraine, a source at a prominent media rights group told RIA Novosti Friday, RIA Novosti reports.

"The US government agencies send us and our colleagues pressing requests not to protect the interests of Russian journalists working on Ukrainian territory who get detained by the security forces of that country," RIA Novosti quotes the source, who preferred not to give their name or the name of the organization.

"Their explanation is that Russian journalists have completely discredited themselves, as they had allegedly been witnesses at interrogations without interfering with the ill-treatment of the detained, often hiding their faces, interacting with terrorists, and thus, taking their side," the source added.