"We insist ... on the speedy release of our citizens and close interaction with the law enforcement agencies of Belarus and with lawyers," RIA Novosti quoted him as saying.
He emphasized that the claims and ambiguous interpretations of the reasons for the presence of Russian citizens in Belarus "are seen as unfounded and far-fetched, cause extreme surprise."
“There is no evidence to suggest that these people were ready to disrupt public order,” Mezentsev said, noting that Belarus did not present such data.
He also said that the meeting of Russian diplomats with detained Russians lasted from 22:00 on July 31 to 05:00 on August 1.
On July 29, the BELTA news agency reported that 33 Russians had been detained in Belarus. Later it became known that the detainees were suspected of preparing riots.
The press secretary of the President of Russia Dmitry Peskov reported that the Russians detained in Belarus did not commit illegal actions and had all the necessary documents.
According to him, the detainees had tickets to Istanbul, they are employees of a private security company.