Ukrainian citizens, detained at Freedom Day rally, to be deported

Activists of the Ukrainian youth organisation National Alliance, Yulia Grishchuk and Yulia Slivinskaya, were sentenced to one day in custody.

The Ukrainian citizens, who were detained at the rally, were set free in the Savetski district court, because they had already served their term in custody, spokesman for the Ukrainian embassy in Belarus Aleksei Yemelyanenko said to BelaPAN.

According to him, the girls' documents are in the migration service. They will have to spend another night in Minsk, because they cannot  receive their documents after working hours. The embassy will help them with accommodation. Yulia Grishchuk and Yulia Slivinskaya are to be deported from the country on March 26.

Another Ukrainian activist, minor Nazar Zelinovsky, received a warning. He will be handed over to his parents and deported from the country on Tuesday.

The National Alliance representatives arrived in Minsk to raise Ukrainian flag at the Freedom Day rally. Eight people were detained at the rally for disobeying police orders.

National Alliance's press secretary Maya Moskvich said the soft sentences to the activists were “our victory”.