The State Border Committee of Belarus reported on the arrest of a member of the coordination council (CC) of the opposition of the Republic of Belarus Maria Kolesnikova while trying to cross the border with Ukraine.

The ministry added that two more representatives of the Belarusian opposition - Ivan Kravtsov and Anton Rodnenkov - left the territory of the republic.

As told in the State Border Committee, Kravtsov, Rodnenkov and Kolesnikova on September 8 at about 4:00 tried to leave the republic through the road checkpoint "Alexandrovka" on the border with Ukraine.

The official representative of the State Border Committee, Anton Bychkovsky, noted that in this section of the border, due to the peculiarity of the infrastructure, security was strengthened and additional border patrols were displayed.

“Rodnenkov, Kravtsov and Kolesnikova went through customs border control in a BMW car and moved towards Ukraine.

However, later, having met the border guard, the car accelerated sharply, creating a threat to the life of a soldier of the border service.

Kolesnikova found herself outside the vehicle.

In fact, she was pushed out of it and continued to move towards Ukraine, "RIA Novosti quoted Bychkovsky as saying.

Bychkovsky clarified that the actions of the opposition will be given a legal assessment.

He also added that nothing threatens Kolesnikova's health, and she does not need medical attention.

The CPC later reported that Kravtsov and Rodnenkov were detained on the territory of Ukraine, and also stated that they both have a residence permit in Ukraine, RIA Novosti reports.

In turn, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine denied information about the detention of Belarusian oppositionists.

“Two oppositionists are now on the territory of Ukraine at the border point, they can move freely through the territory of Ukraine, no one detained them,” said Anton Gerashchenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Earlier, a member of the Presidium of the Coordination Council (CC) Maxim Znak said that Kolesnikova did not plan to leave the territory of Belarus.

According to him, the news of Kolesnikova and two other oppositionists trying to leave the country came as a surprise to him.

The day before, on September 7, the relatives of Maria Kolesnikova filed a complaint with the police regarding her disappearance.

This was reported at the headquarters of the unregistered presidential candidate Viktor Babariko. 

“The relatives of Maria Kolesnikova filed a complaint with the police about the disappearance.

The police said that the application was accepted, they are looking for Maria, ”reads a message on Twitter.

At the same time, a number of Belarusian media previously reported that Kolesnikova was allegedly kidnapped by unknown persons, having pushed her into a minibus.

On September 7, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Belarus reported that it had no information about the detention of Kolesnikova by state bodies.

Former presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya blamed the alleged disappearance of Kolesnikova on the Belarusian authorities, calling it an attempt to disrupt the work of the coordinating council.

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov, commenting on the incident with Maria Kolesnikova, said that the Kremlin has no information about her whereabouts. 

“Of course, kidnapping is something that cannot be approved in any way.

In this case, of course, this must be differentiated from the detention of people in strict accordance with the law.

At the same time, we do not yet have detailed information about what happened to her, because the most contradictory information comes in.

We hope that the situation will be cleared up and we will hear some explanations, explanations or statements that will clarify what happened, ”Peskov said.

He also said that the coordination council of the opposition of Belarus had no contacts with Moscow.

“You know that by the decision of the constitutional court this self-proclaimed body was declared illegal, unconstitutional, therefore, of course, in this case there can be no talk of any contacts,” he said.

To gallery page

Recall that on August 9, presidential elections were held in Belarus, in which, according to the country's Central Election Commission, the incumbent head of state Alexander Lukashenko won, receiving 80.1% of the vote.

Opposition representative Svetlana Tikhanovskaya gained 10.1%.

After the preliminary results of the elections became known, protests began in Belarus, dissatisfied with the results of the voting.

Tikhanovskaya herself left the country and went to Lithuania.

Against the backdrop of these events, representatives of the Belarusian opposition formed a coordinating council calling for "new elections according to international standards with a new composition of all commissions."

The elections held in the republic are proposed to be declared invalid.

The Prosecutor General's Office of Belarus opened a criminal case on the seizure of power on the fact of the creation of a coordination council by the opposition.