The Russian embassy in Minsk has said it does not have any information about Russian citizens being detained in Belarus. It follows media reports about the arrest of suspected members of the ‘Wagner’ private military company.
The embassy has requested official information on detentions following the media reports, diplomats said. “The embassy has not received any official notifications about any Russian citizens detained on the territory of Belarus,” the diplomatic mission wrote in a Twitter post.
Earlier, Belarusian state news agency, Belta, reported citing law enforcement sources that 33 ‘Russian citizens’ suspected of being the members of the company were arrested in Belarus.
It added that as many as 200 fighters accused of providing mercenary services around the world had allegedly arrived to “destabilize the situation” ahead of the upcoming presidential elections.
The Belarusian Investigative Committee said it “can neither confirm nor deny” information about the detentions. The Interior Ministry said it does not possess any knowledge of the developments. The national security service, the KGB, also declined to comment.
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