Russian diplomats are
expected to speak to the apprehended as soon as today, according to official
data.
MINSK, July 31.
/TASS/. The Russian embassy in Belarus has received an official permission from
the Belarusian authorities to visit the Russians detained recently.
"The Russian
embassy was informed by the Main Consular Department of the Belarusian Foreign
Ministry about the reception of official documents from the Belarusian
Investigative Committee, which say that the head of the [Russian] embassy’s
consular department is allowed to visit the detained Russian citizens,"
the diplomatic mission told TASS.
Russian diplomats are
expected to speak to the apprehended as soon as today.
Earlier, Belarus
reported that 33 Russian citizens were detained in the early hours of July 29.
Minsk described most of them as employees of a foreign private military
company.
The Belarusian
Foreign Ministry demanded explanations from Russian Ambassador Dmitry Mezentsev
regarding the aims for the apprehended Russians' arrival in the country. The
ministry also invited acting head of the Ukrainian embassy in Minsk Pyotr
Vrublevsky "considering the confirmed information that some detainees were
fighting in Ukraine’s Donetsk and Lugansk regions." Following the meeting,
the sides agreed to boost monitoring over the border section between the two
states.
Meanwhile, Kremlin
Spokesman Dmitry Peskov noted that Moscow was yet to receive full information
about the events, including any illegal actions that prompted the detentions.
According to him, Moscow does not recognize Ukrainian citizenships of some of
these people. Additionally, Peskov slammed claims of any links between these
events and the upcoming presidential election in Belarus as
"theories."
Source: ITAR-TASS
01-08-2020
