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Detention of Russian TV crew in Istanbul extended by three days

Two employees of Russia’s NTV channel, reporter Alexey Petrushko and cameraman Ivan Malyshkin, were detained on the outskirts of Istanbul

ANKARA, December 4. /TASS/. The Turkish authorities extended the custody of Russia’s NTV television crew by three days, according to a statement by the Istanbul province administration received by TASS on Friday.

"The police department of Istanbul detained two Russian citizens and a Turkish national at 10:30 [local time] on Thursday, December 3, 2020 after it found out that they were filming a video near a drone research and development facility in our province, where photo-and video recording is prohibited. An official investigation is ongoing. On the prosecutor general’s order, the custody of those individuals was extended by three days," the statement says.

Two employees of Russia’s NTV channel, reporter Alexey Petrushko and cameraman Ivan Malyshkin, were detained on the outskirts of Istanbul, the NTV channel informed on its website on Friday. The Russian Foreign Ministry informed that the Russian Embassy in Ankara is in contact with Turkish officials, clarifying the information on the detention of reporters. The ministry said that the Russian reporters had last contacted their colleagues on December 3.

The journalists were detained near the building of Baykar Savunma, a Turkish company specializing in the production of armed drones, a source in the Turkish Foreign Ministry told TASS earlier on Friday. The reporters had no accreditation, the source said.

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