According to sources within the Ukrainian military, the 64-year-old Swede is a former small business owner who currently resides in Norway. He was abducted on July 20 at a checkpoint near Perevalsk in the Luhansk region.
"Terrorists have kidnapped a Swedish citizen and hold him in Horvlika," said Andrei Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine's National Security Council, during a press conference today, according to the Ukrainian Pravda.
The Swedish Foreign Ministry has so far been reticent about the case.
"We are currently investigating this case. We have no knowledge of the man's identity," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lena Tranberg told Fria Tider.
Separatists: He might be a soldier
In a comment made to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, Separatist leader Igor Bezler confirmed that his forces have detained a man born in 1950.
"He claims that he was on his way to the village Popasnaya to meet his woman. We do not know if he is military or not, but we'll look into it. We have been informed that the Ukrainian forces are using snipers from Sweden, so we will investigate this", Igor Bezler told Ria Novosti.
A handful of Swedes are currently in Ukraine to participate as volunteers in the so-called Azov Battalion, which mainly consists of foreign nationalists fighting for the Ukrainian government. One of them is the sniper Mikael Skillt, formerly active in the Swedish Resistance Movement. Skillt claims that separatists have put a high price on his head.
Neighbors: An ordinary man
Bengt's neighbors in the small community outside Stavanger in southern Norway are surprised to hear about his disappearance. They describe the 64-year-old as an ordinary Swedish man who, after having settled in Norway, first was employed by a local supermarket and later went on to work at a post office in Stavanger.
They did, however, notice one thing.
"He has a wife who speaks Swedish with an accent, Russian or some similar language," one of the neighbors, Gunnar, told Fria Tider.
A spokesman for the National Police cited in Aftonbladet confirms that the man has been reported missing.
When Fria Tider contacted relatives of the abducted man they declined to comment on the incident.
