Russian forces have detained 25 people in occupied areas of southern Ukraine for allegedly supporting and "aiding" Kyiv, Russia's National Guard said Monday.

The arrests were made in Ukraine's Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions, large swathes of which Moscow captured after it launched its full-scale assault on the country in February 2022.

Acting on "information received from military counterintelligence, 25 local residents suspected of aiding the Ukrainian armed forces were detained," said a national guard statement.

"Four of them were engaged in espionage, collecting information about the actions of the Russian army, national guard troops, and the ministry of internal affairs, and passing it on to their handlers from the Ukrainian army. Eight are suspected of treason," it said.

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The national guard added that several people put out "public calls for terrorist activity on the internet", while others "were members of banned organisations and financed them".

The United Nations reported in March that Russia has arbitrarily detained people in occupied Ukraine, creating a "climate of fear" that had "ruptured the social fabric of communities".

The Kremlin has denied any wrongdoing, calling its takeover of the regions a "liberation".

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