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Russian Foreign Ministry slams reports on "Russian trace" in Serbia unrest as fake news

The Serbian national television reported that nationals of Israel and Kyrgyzstan were detained on Thursday for taking part in the riots

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. The Russian Foreign Ministry slams as fake news the reports about the "Russian trace" behind unrest in Belgrade.

"Certain online media outlets released reports on alleged ‘Russian trace’ behind the unrest in Belgrade on July 7-8," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Thursday.

"Apparently, the authors of that fake news are trying to keep up with well-known conspiracy stereotypes of their sponsors who seem to be seeing ‘the hand of Moscow’ everywhere. That low-profile paid news pursues the sole goal of casting a shadow on the Russian-Serbian partnership," the ministry added.

"We are looking forward to a speedy end to violence, to the restoration of public order and stability in friendly Serbia and to the return of political discussions on the pressing issues the country is facing to the constitutional direction," the ministry said.

On Tuesday, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic announced the curfew would be re-imposed in Belgrade from Friday evening until Monday morning to combat a spike in coronavirus cases. Serbians did not support their leader’s decision and took to the streets without waiting for the end of his address. After far-right groups had joined the peaceful protesters, the rally against the curfew transformed into an attempted storm of the building of Serbia’s parliament. Clashes erupted between the police and protesters and spilled over on Wednesday.

The Serbian national television reported that nationals of Israel and Kyrgyzstan were detained on Thursday for taking part in the riots. The Alo daily said that the riots were joined by mercenaries from the US private military company Blackwater, who were the Serbs that had earlier fought for the Ukrainian army in eastern Ukraine.

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