Moscow expects to receive full information on the fact of the detention of Russians in Belarus. This was stated by the press secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov.

“Today our ambassador communicates with the Foreign Ministry and with colleagues in Minsk, so we expect that as a result of this communication, as well as through the channels of communication between the special services, we will receive comprehensive information about what happened,” he said.

Peskov explained that the Kremlin still knows that the Belarusian special services have detained 33 Russian citizens, and another 200 people are on the wanted list.

“There is no information about any illegal actions of the Russians that could become a reason for the arrest, we do not know anything about this,” he said. 

At the same time, Moscow sees official statements from Minsk representatives that the Russians are allegedly involved in plans to destabilize the situation on the territory of the republic on the eve of the presidential elections.

He also commented on reports that a number of detained Russians have Ukrainian citizenship.

“We do not recognize their Ukrainian citizenship. They are citizens of Russia, ”said the presidential press secretary. 

When asked what position Moscow will take if these detainees are handed over to Ukraine, Peskov pointed out the need to first understand what they are accused of.

Peskov expressed the hope that the rights of the detainees will be fully respected. He also added that a telephone conversation between the leaders of Russia and Belarus about the current situation is not planned yet.

“You understand that there are many communication channels between Minsk and Moscow, a variety of communication channels, including through law enforcement agencies. Therefore, let's hope that these channels will be sufficient to clarify the situation, ”he explained, answering a question from journalists.

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He added that the Belarusians are allies and closest partners for Russia, but the incident with the detention of the Russians is subject to clarification.

Let us remind you that on the eve the Belarusian news agency BelTA reported that “32 militants of the foreign private company Wagner” were allegedly detained near Minsk, another one was detained in the south of the country. According to the agency, all the detainees were Russian citizens.

The publication claimed that they had moved to a sanatorium near Minsk. According to the agency, the visitors attracted attention with "behavior uncharacteristic for Russian tourists" and their appearance.

Later, the head of the State Security Committee (KGB) of Belarus, Valery Vakulchik, confirmed the information on citizenship. 

At the same time, according to BelTA, information was earlier received about the arrival in Belarus of "more than 200 militants to destabilize the situation during the election campaign." 

After some time, the Russian Embassy officially received a notice from the Belarusian Foreign Ministry about the detention of the Russians.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko demanded to look into the situation, saying that the republic "has no goals to discredit a close country."

On July 30, it became known that the investigation opened a criminal case in connection with the detention of the Russians. State Secretary of the Security Council of the republic Andrei Ravkov specified that the case concerns the preparation of terrorist acts.

Later, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry held meetings with the heads of the diplomatic missions of Russia and Ukraine. The press secretary of the department, Anatoly Glaz, specified that the Ambassador of Russia to Belarus Dmitry Fedorovich Mezentsev and Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine, acting head of the foreign establishment Pyotr Vrublevsky were invited to the Foreign Ministry in turn. Glaz added that the statement of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry following the meeting will be published later.

In turn, the head of the Human Rights Council under the President of Russia, Valery Fadeev, expressed his readiness to support Russian citizens if their rights are violated.

The first deputy head of the international committee of the Federation Council, Vladimir Dzhabarov, expressed the opinion that the current situation will be investigated and the incident will not affect relations between the countries. 

“If there are just Russians who went according to their plans through the republic, and they were used, then this is one thing,” he said.

The senator recalled that Russia and Belarus are a single Union State, and expressed hope that this situation will be resolved in the near future.