BELGRADE, August 7. /TASS/. Russian journalist Daria Aslamova has been detained in Kosovo on espionage charges, Kosovo’s Interior Minister Xhelal Svecla said on Saturday.
Svecla stated on his account on Facebook (a social media site banned in Russia since it is owned by Meta corporation deemed extremist by Russia’s authorities - TASS) that at Kosovo’s northern border guard checkpoint Russian journalist representing Komsomolskaya Pravda daily Daria Aslamova was detained.
"Many countries have proven that she was engaged in espionage for Russian military intelligence and that she pretended to be a journalist," Svecla stated.
The minister also said that Aslamova’s attempt to enter the territory of Kosovo following a recent escalation of tensions in the region was a proof of Russia’s involvement, which Serbia asked for in order to destabilize the situation.
Russia’s Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper reported on Sunday that there was no established contact with journalist Aslamova.
According to the daily, Aslamova was tasked in Kosovo to work on a special report regarding recently circulated information about heightened tensions between Serbia and Kosovo.
Tensions escalated dramatically in Kosovo and Metohija on July 31 after Kosovo police had closed a checkpoint on the administrative line with Serbia as part of preparations for the implementation of a ban on Serbian documents.
In response, Serbs living in the northern part of Kosovo came out to protest and blocked major roads. Police officers and members of the NATO-led Kosovo Force international mission (KFOR) were deployed to a bridge across the Ibar River, which connects the northern and southern parts of Kosovska Mitrovica.
As a result of international efforts, Pristina decided to postpone the ban until September 1.