The Russian Ambassador to Minsk Dmitry Mezentsev said that the regime of detention of Russians detained in Belarus has improved.
On August 6-7, employees of the consular section of the Russian embassy met with the detained Russians who are under investigation. The first meeting with the consuls took place on the night of July 31 to August 1.
“The consuls of the Russian embassy note that the regime of detention of our citizens has changed (for the better – Ed.), Russian citizens do not express complaints about the conduct of investigative actions,” RIA Novosti quoted him as saying on Saturday, August 8.
Mezentsev also said that the detention of Russians in Minsk could be provoked by a third country in order to complicate relations between Russia and Belarus.
On July 29, near Minsk, they detained 33 Russians who are allegedly employees of the Wagner PMC. Some of them also had Ukrainian citizenship.
Moscow explained that the Russians were going to fly to Istanbul, but missed the plane. President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko rejected this version. A criminal case has been initiated against the detainees on suspicion of preparing a terrorist attack. They chose a preventive measure in the form of detention.
In turn, the Investigative Committee of Russia began a pre-investigation check of all the circumstances of the incident.
On August 6, the website kp.ru reported that the detention of Russian citizens was a planned operation by the Ukrainian special services.