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Russia oversees Sofia Sapega’s case - Deputy Foreign Minister

Andrey Rudenko noted that protecting the rights of Russian citizens abroad is one of the key areas of work of the Foreign Affairs Ministry

MOSCOW, January 2. /TASS/. The Russian side oversees the case of Sofia Sapega, a Russian national, accused under seven articles of the Belarusian Criminal Code, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told TASS.

"Regardless of the public attention, we oversee all Russians in a difficult situation, including those in Belarus, in particular Sofia Sapega and Egor Dudnikov," he said.

The Deputy Minister noted that protecting the rights of Russian citizens abroad is one of the key areas of work of the Foreign Affairs Ministry. "Russian diplomatic missions around the world are constantly monitoring the situation, seeking consular meetings with detainees, providing legal protection, as well as other necessary assistance, taking into account the specifics of various legislations," he said.

"From the moment of the arrest of Sofia Sapega, the Russian Embassy in Minsk has been providing her with the necessary assistance within the framework of the Consular Charter of the Russian Federation, has been in touch with her relatives and lawyers. During the ninth visit on December 14, 2021, she confirmed that she was still under house arrest. She did not express any complaints about her health or conditions of detention. It would be possible to talk about her further line of defense only after the court’s verdict," Rudenko said.

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. Sapega and Protasevich were placed under house arrest in late June.

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