The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine has confirmed the detention in Belarus of its journalists who covered the presidential elections in the country. This was announced on Wednesday, August 12, by the press service of the department.
“On August 12, at approximately 17:00 (coinciding with Moscow time – Ed.), Two citizens of Ukraine, Konstantin Reutsky and Yevgeny Vasiliev, were detained in Minsk. The Ukrainian Embassy in Belarus is taking measures to establish the place and conditions of detention of the detained Ukrainians, ”reads a message posted on Twitter.
Earlier that day, the Belarusian Association of Journalists reported that two Ukrainian journalists had been detained in Minsk. At the same time, before that, the head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus Yuri Karaev instructed his subordinates not to touch the journalists during the protests. He called an exception when media representatives “stand between violators and the forces of law and order.”
On August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus. According to the latest data from the Central Election Commission, the incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko won 80.08% of the vote, opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya was supported by 10.09% of voters. Tikhanovskaya’s headquarters did not recognize the results of the vote.
After the announcement of the preliminary results, unauthorized protests began in Minsk and other cities of Belarus, which resumed in the evening on August 10 and 11. Both civilians and security officials suffered, one person died.
There were also detentions of journalists. Among them were WarGonzo project manager and REN TV freelance journalist Semyon Pegov, Daily Storm employees Anton Starkov and Dmitry Lasenko, RIA Novosti photojournalist Ilya Pitalev, Meduza journalist Maxim Solopov, RT correspondent Konstantin Pridybailo, as well as correspondents of the Dozhd TV channel and RT stringers working with video agency Ruptly.