MINSK, August 31. /TASS/. Belarusian Interior Minister Yuri Karayev has said that no Russian troops, police or national guardsmen have arrived in the country since the beginning of protest demonstrations.
"Nobody has seen a single Russian soldier, or police or guardsmen in Belarus yet," Karayev told the RT television channel in an interview.
He believes that rumors about the emergence of Russian forces near the border with Belarus or even in the territory of the country were spread in the social networks by the opponents of the authorities in order to foment anti-Russian sentiment.
"Information struggle has never stopped," he said. "Apparently, some would like to present it in this light. Clearly, the ‘Belarus has been sold up’ card is being played. Who has it been sold to? Some would say, to the Russians, and others, to the West."
In an interview to Sergei Brilyov on August 27 Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Moscow and Minsk had agreed a special law enforcement reserve would be formed for Belarus. Putin said that this reserve would be used only if "extremist elements, without bothering to use political slogans as a cover, step over certain red lines and unleash brigandage, set buildings and homes on fire, try to storm administrative buildings and so on." Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that the situation in Belarus was under control and it made no sense to discuss the possibility a Russian police reserve might be used.