Ukraine's pro-Russian rebel leader Alexander Zakharchenko said Saturday that insurgents had released two US aid workers detained for alleged spying. 

"We have freed two Americans that we arrested earlier. One of the two is a CIA agent, the other was enlisted," Zakharchenko told journalists, without giving any more details. 

Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu has rejected claims that Ankara is preparing to intervene militarily in neighboring Syria, local media reported on Saturday.

"No, there is no situation right now that requires Turkey's involvement," Davutoglu was quoted as saying by the Hurriyet newspaper. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday presided over a huge military parade to commemorate the 70th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany, brushing off a snub by Western leaders over Ukraine.

In what is seen as punishment for the Kremlin's meddling in Ukraine, Western countries led by Russia's World War II allies are boycotting the May 9 festivities, leaving Putin to mark the day in the company of the leaders of China, Cuba and other Moscow-friendly figures.

Russian Ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin defended on Saturday Hizbullah's intervention in Syria, describing the group as a resistance that participates in political life and aids a legitimate regime in Syria.

The ambassador rejected in comments published in the pan-Arab daily al-Hayat comparison between the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and Hizbullah, stressing that the differences are “fundamental.”

A Russian court on Friday sentenced the alleged mistress of disgraced ex-defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov to five years in a prison camp in a sweeping probe into a multi-million dollar embezzlement.

Former senior official Yevgenia Vasilyeva, who headed the defense ministry's property department, was convicted along with four ex-colleagues of stealing money in a scam to sell off government assets. 

President Vladimir Putin on Friday congratulated "citizens" of Ukraine but snubbed its leaders on the 70th anniversary of Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in WWII amid a deep feud between Moscow and Kiev. 

Putin pointedly sidestepped addressing Ukraine's pro-Western authorities as he issued a congratulatory statement to the governments of other former Soviet republics that fought alongside Moscow in WWII. 

China's Xi Jinping flew into Moscow Friday as some two dozen world leaders headed to Russia for a grandiose World War II victory parade that has been snubbed by the West.

Russia will roll out its military might at the Red Square parade to mark 70 years since victory over Nazi Germany from 10:00 am on Saturday (0700 GMT) with 16,000 troops and a display of hardware including the latest generation Armata tanks.

Europe held somber ceremonies to mark 70 years since victory over Nazi Germany on Friday as leaders warned of modern day threats such as the war in Ukraine and Islamic extremism.

Celebrations of the WWII victory in Europe were muted a day before Moscow throws a massive military parade which is being snubbed by Western leaders due to tensions over the crisis in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Thursday criticized what he termed a policy of appeasement towards Russia in the context of the separatist conflict in Ukraine's east.

"Crimes are committed today in the 21st century amid the aggression against my country Ukraine, despite the cruelest lessons of the past," Poroshenko said in the Polish port city of Gdansk.

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker called again Thursday for the bloc to build an army, saying a flock of hens posed more of a threat than its current military capabilities.

"A bunch of chickens looks like a combat formation compared to the foreign and security policy of the European Union," Juncker told a Brussels forum in typically lively language.