The two reporters were detained in the eastern rebel-held city of Ajdabiya on Friday afternoon and then delivered to a military base in the eastern city of Benghazi, Komsomolskaya Pravda said in a statement.

The Russian foreign ministry said it had contacted the rebel leadership in Benghazi with an “urgent request to do everything possible to resolve this incident as soon as possible.”

The paper said the two men, who were identified as Dmitry Steshin and Alexander Kots, were being treated “correctly, but not especially gently”.

They had to give up their documents and equipment and were being forced to answer questions about their travel plans and “why they came to Libya,” the popular Russian daily said on its website.

Russia has criticised the international air campaign over Libya, arguing it had led to civilian casualties and was aimed at assisting the rebels, something not sanctioned by the UN Security Council in a vote from which it abstained.