Teller Report

Belarusians have left the Swedish embassy in Minsk

6/14/2022, 10:18:30 PM

The two Belarusian men who have been at the Swedish embassy in Minsk since September 2020 have left the embassy. According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the men themselves have chosen to leave the embassy, ​​which TV4 was the first to report on.


The site Radio Free Europe reports that the men have gone to Latvia.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms that the men have left the embassy, ​​but can not explain how it happened.

- What I can say is that the two men who illegally stayed at the Swedish embassy area in Minsk themselves have chosen to leave, says Staffan Fjellander at the Foreign Ministry's press office to SVT.

Vitaly and Vladislav Kuznetchik, father and son, went to the embassy after participating in demonstrations against the rigged presidential election and then charged with crime.

When they could not apply for asylum, they entered the area in another way.

The men stated that they were at great risk of being abducted and subjected to torture.

In a film clip on Radio Free Europe, the two Belarusians tell about how the escape from the embassy took place.

It must have been planned for months, and according to the men, they left in one of the embassy's cars.

They were taken to a hospital in another city and then they are said to have traveled to the Latvian border by train and taxi.

- The most frightening thing was to make the decision to leave the embassy, ​​says his son Vladislav in the interview.