MOSCOW, May 26. /TASS/. Sofia Sapega, a young Russian woman, detained in Minsk after a Ryanair flight made an emergency landing in the Belarusian capital, will receive all the necessary consular and legal support, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.
"Here, we can only say one thing, that all consular and legal protection will certainly be provided to the Russian female national," the Kremlin spokesman told reporters.
As Peskov recalled, the Russian Foreign Ministry has also pledged all needed assistance to Sapega. "Considering that now the Belarussian side has said that she is being charged with participating in unauthorized actions and so forth and so on. Besides, we have also seen her confession. In any case, she is entitled to protection, and she will undoubtedly receive all the assistance for her legal defense," Peskov stressed.
The Kremlin spokesman said he was unaware of any appeal by Sapega's mother to Russian President Vladimir Putin for help. "No, I do not know about any appeals, de-jure or de-facto," the Kremlin spokesman told reporters.
Commenting on a statement by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that technologies were being tested out on his country for further pressure on the East, Peskov noted that the Kremlin saw that "some technologies for destabilizing the situation are, of course, being tested in some countries and subsequently expanded and copied in other states."
"This practice does take place. It is well known, and those responsible for law and order in our country are well informed about that and are taking all necessary measures," the Russian presidential spokesman pointed out.
Sapega was detained at Minsk Airport on May 23 along with Roman Protasevich, one of the co-founders of the Nexta Telegram channel, which was recognized as extremist in Belarus, after a Ryanair flight made an emergency landing. The Vilnius-bound flight that took off from Athens was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk after a reported bomb threat on board. A subsequent search after the aircraft had touched down in the Belarusian capital failed to find any information confirming this fact.
As follows from a video posted on the Internet on Tuesday, Sapega said she was an editor of the Black Book of Belarus Telegram channel, which doxes Belarusian law enforcement agents. The channel was recognized as an extremist one in Belarus in April.