FILE PHOTO: Candidate in the upcoming presidential election Svetlana Tikhanouskaya speaks during an interview with Reuters in Minsk, Belarus July 30, 2020. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko
August 1, 2020
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Moscow has denied any links between the Belarus opposition and alleged Russian mercenaries detained this week in Belarus, a Russian diplomat in Minsk said, according to Russia’s RIA news agency.
RIA also reported that Russian diplomats met the 33 suspected mercenaries arrested in Belarus.
The Belarusian authorities say they believe the husband of opposition presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanouskaya may have ties to the detained group and have launched a criminal case against him on suspicion of inciting riots.
(Reporting by Vladimir Soldatkin; Editing by Edmund Blair)
