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Russia will continue to protect interests of Russian national Sapega detained in Belarus

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

MOSCOW, June 25. /TASS/. Russia will continue to protect the interests of Russian national Sofia Sapega, who was placed under house arrest in Belarus, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov informed reporters on Friday.

When asked whether the decision to place the Russian citizen under house arrest came as a result of Russian-Belarusian talks, the spokesman stressed that "de jure, it is a result of the decisions made by the Belarusian investigative and judicial bodies".

"As for the legal interests of the Russian citizen, they were protected, and they will be protected by our diplomats and via other channels," Peskov said.

The Russian Embassy in Belarus confirmed to TASS on Friday that Sapega had been placed under house arrest, and the issue of a visit by a Russian consul is being addressed. According to the embassy’s spokesman Alexei Maskalev, Russian diplomats are cooperating with the Belarusian Investigative Committee.

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 the landing of a Ryanair flight. The Vilnius-bound plane that took off from Athens was forced to make an emergency landing in Minsk after a reported bomb threat, although no bomb was found after a search. According to a video posted on the Internet, Sapega said she was an editor of the Black Book of Belarus Telegram channel, which discloses personal data of Belarusian law enforcers. The channel was recognized as extremist in Belarus in April.

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