Russian detainees had permits to work in Belarus - envoy
23:50, 30 July
Photo: pixabay.com
Russian citizens detained in Belarus showed their documents clearing them to work in the country when crossing the Belarusian border, Russian Ambassador to Minsk Dmitry Mezentsev said.
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"A Belarusian citizen acted as partner for these people. They had signed work contracts with a firm that the embassy knows about. There is nothing unlawful about it. They crossed the border by showing the documents allowing them to work in the country to border control officers," he said.
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 their 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 speculations.
