East Ukraine rebels release arrested leader amid infighting

MOSCOW (Reuters) - One of the leaders of Russian-backed separatists in east Ukraine, Andrei Purgin, said on Tuesday he had been released from custody after being held in a cell for four days by his own side for reasons he did not understand.

Purgin was arrested last week as part of an apparent power struggle before the breakaway region prepares to hold its own elections. He was detained after being dismissed as head of the separatist parliament, near the rebel stronghold of Donetsk after returning from Russia.