The Belarusian Foreign Ministry summoned the ambassadors of Russia and Ukraine after the arrest of 32 people, whom they said were affiliated with the Russian private security company Wagner.
The authorities said that they had arrested the company's personnel near the capital, Minsk, after receiving information about the arrival of 200 militants from Wagner, as part of a plan it said was aimed at destabilizing the situation during the presidential campaign.
In turn, the Russian embassy in Minsk said on Twitter that it had received "an official notification that 32 Russian citizens have been arrested", without adding details.
The Belarusian "Bilta" news agency, citing security sources, said that every element of Wagner's mercenaries was carrying a small handbag while entering, along with 3 large bags.
She noted that the group had stayed at a hotel in the capital, Minsk, on the night of July 24, before moving to another area on the outskirts of the capital.
According to the information of the suburb authorities, the behavior of the Wagner elements was different from that of the general Russian tourists, as well as their uniforms.
It noted that the security forces launched a campaign to arrest Wagner's mercenaries, during which they arrested 32 of them.
In turn, President Alexander Lukashenko instructed the National Security Council requesting that he communicate with relevant Russian institutions in order to provide clarifications in this regard.
"I gathered you today to clarify the exceptional incident that took place tonight, and we cannot call it anything else," Lukashenko said in a speech during the council meeting.
The "Wagner" group was founded by a figure close to Russian President Vladimir Putin, and holds a reputation as a tool that Russia uses for foreign military interventions that it cannot formally undertake.
The company appeared in eastern Ukraine, which has been witnessing a continuous war since 2014, and also deployed its elements in Libya and Syria. Russia denies any link to the group.