Celebrity news: Stefanovic held up by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

Nine News journalist Peter Stefanovic has revealed he was detained by pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.

Peter Stefanovic – the brother of the other famous Stefanovic, Karl – says that he was held for about 30 minutes, and that the situation was “very threatening”.

About a dozen men stopped him and his news crew as they were entering Slovyansk, a Ukraine town currently being besieged by Russian rebels, and demanded that the news crew delete their pictures.

Very tense on outskirts of Slovyansk. We were just held by a dozen armed separatists. Wanted our armour and told to delete pictures.

— Peter Stefanovic (@peterstefanovic) May 6, 2014

The troops spoke to them in Russian for half an hour, and also wanted to take the news crew’s armour. Eventually, they released the Australian team unharmed.

There was a different Stefanovic on the Today show this morning, when Peter came on to talk about his experiences.

Peter Stefanovic said that the separatists who stopped them were prepared for “a full-on assault by the Ukrainian military”, and were “well equipped and well armed”. He continued:

We were appointing a checkpoint. Our van was asked to pull over by six to 12 armed separatists.

They were worried about spies being in the area. They went through our bags, they wanted to take our armoury … they didn’t in the end.

That’s when they told us to get out of town.

There are very difficult reporting conditions here at the moment because it is very tense on the ground.

A military assault on Slovyansk on Monday has led to a death toll of at least 34, and French President Francois Hollande has said that “chaos and the risk of civil war” are looming in the region.

Some fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin may order an invasion of Ukraine under the guise of a “peacekeeping” effort, although for now Russia denies its special forces are active in east Ukraine.

Germany’s foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier says that if the situation in Ukraine turns into a full-scale war, it “could destroy the security framework in Europe”.

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