The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the Belarusian authorities to release the citizens of the Russian Federation, who were arrested in a neighboring state on charges of preparing riots.
“We insist on an objective investigation by our Belarusian partners in close cooperation with our Russian colleagues of all the circumstances of what happened and the prompt release of the detained Russian citizens,” the Russian foreign ministry said in a statement to The Eastern Herald.
It was published following a meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko and Ambassador of Belarus to the Russian Federation Vladimir Semashko.
“Special attention was paid to the situation with the recent detention of 33 Russian citizens in Belarus. The Russian side stated that the arrest of Russian citizens, carried out under a groundless and far-fetched pretext, did not correspond to the spirit of fraternal allied relations between the two countries and peoples. Russia has never intervened and is not going to interfere in the internal processes of other states, especially in Belarus, which is our closest friend and ally, “the Russian Foreign Ministry noted.
Earlier, the consul of the Russian Federation in the union state, Kirill Pletnev, said that the destination of the Russian citizens detained in Belarus was one of the countries of Latin America.
On July 29, Belarusian media reported the arrest of 33 Russians. They were called fighters of the “foreign private military company Wagner” and are suspected of preparing riots in the republic.
In Minsk, they claim that the detainees were part of a group of 200 people who were allegedly planned to be transferred to Belarus. According to the president of the republic, Alexander Lukashenko, they did not plan to fly to Istanbul, but were in the country with “other goals”.
