Eismant On Detention Of Russian Woman In Minsk: She Was Not Detained And Not Arrested

The Lukashenka press service has reacted strangely to the incident.

Anna Bogacheva, who is on the U.S. sanctions list and whose detention and release became known yesterday, was allegedly "detained by no one" in Minsk. This was reported by spokesman for Lukashenka Natallia Eismant.

Natallia Eismant has specified in a comment by tut.by that it wasn't the detention, but "the clarification of the circumstances".

- It's hard for me to speak for my colleagues, apparently, this is their understanding of the situation. I have already commented to some Russian journalists today that, yes, the name of this Russian citizen was in our databases, and therefore all the circumstances were clarified. But I repeat: she was not detained or arrested. This is a different interpretation of the same event," - the spokeswoman for Lukashenka explained.

Yesterday the mass media reported that two days ago Russian citizen Anna Bogacheva was detained in a Minsk hotel. According to RIA Novosti, Bogacheva was detained at the request of the U.S. - in 2018, she got under U.S. sanctions as an employee of the "Internet Research Agency," which is called a "Troll Factory".

- The situation in connection with the detention of Russian citizen Anna Bogacheva in Minsk by the law enforcement agencies of the Republic of Belarus is in the attention of the consular section of the Russian Embassy in Belarus, whose employees provide her with consular support, - the Russian Foreign Ministry later informed on Facebook.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Volha Chamadanava confirmed that Bogacheva had been detained as someone "wanted internationally".

- Anna Bogacheva is released, she was indeed detained the day before yesterday. Deputy prosecutor of Frunzenski district found no reason to apply a preventive measure in the form of detention with the purpose of her expulsion, - Dzmitry Bryliou, an official representative of the General Prosecutor's Office, commented to tut.by. - Also, the Prosecutor General's Office raised the issue of terminating the international search in respect of Bogacheva in the territory of the Republic of Belarus.