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METERArija Kolesnikowa, the main spokeswoman for opponents of dictator Alexandr Lukashenka who remained in Belarus, was reportedly detained. This was reported by the Belarusian border guard on Tuesday morning. The authority was not referring to the kidnapping of Kolesnikova and two colleagues on the coordinating council of Lukashenka’s opponents, Anton Rodnenkow and Ivan Kravtsov, on Monday in Minsk, but to a dark incident on the border with Ukraine. The same border guard had announced early Tuesday that the three, Kolesnikowa, Rodnenkow and Krawzow, had crossed the border into the neighboring country that night. Later, however, the state news agency Belta reported that the opposition had tried to cross the border illegally, only the two men had entered Ukraine and Kolesnikova had been arrested. The border guards then followed up on this account, whose representative said: “As far as I understand”, Kolesnikova was arrested by border guards.
Belta posted a short video on Telegram. In this, Krawtsov says that he has decided to leave Belarus and is in the company of the other two. There were also incendiary reports on Telegram channels loyal to the regime: according to them, the three tried to “break” control with the car, after which Kolesnikova was “thrown” from the car and the two men escaped to Ukrainian territory. However, one video only showed a car calmly passing through a border checkpoint. Consequently, state television reported the incident as an “advance” and an “escape attempt”, in which the two male colleagues “literally threw Kolesnikova out of the car”. Ukrainian border guards confirmed in the morning that only Rodnenkow and Kravtsov had reached their checkpoint.
“It was not possible to expel Maria Kolesnikowa”
The Russian news agency Interfax reported from Kiev, citing “informed sources”, that Kolesnikova “tore up her passport in a de facto deportation attempt and border officials were unable to let her enter Ukraine.” Ukraine’s Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko wrote on Facebook that Rodnenkov and Kravtsov had arrived in Ukraine through “forced deportation.” “That was not a voluntary departure. He was forcibly expelled from the country of origin. Maria Kolesnikova was not successfully expelled from Belarus because she is a brave woman and has taken steps to prevent her from crossing the border. She stayed in Belarus, ”Gerashchenko wrote. Belarusian border guards also claimed on Tuesday that Rodnenkov and Kravtsov had been arrested in Ukraine “as part of cooperation” between the two countries. However, Ukraine did not confirm this and instead reported that the two men were going through the necessary border controls.
According to an eyewitness, Kolesnikova was dragged into a minibus in Minsk on Monday morning and taken in an unknown direction. The Interior Ministry, the Investigation Committee and the State Control Committee responsible for financial crimes had denied Kolesnikova’s arrest on Monday; the KGB secret service had not commented on the situation. The coordinating council of Lukashenka’s opponents, of which Kolesnikova is a member of the presidium and of which Rodnenkow is the spokesperson and Crawzow the secretary, announced Tuesday morning that they had no further information on the whereabouts of the three. “But we can confirm the fact that Maria Kolesnikova had not previously planned to leave Belarus voluntarily.”
Previously, the regime had forced or taken members of the Presidium of the Coordinating Council abroad, most recently on the weekend Olga Kowalkowa, a colleague of Svetlana Tichanovskaya, who in turn was taken to Lithuania and who claims victory in the elections presidential elections in early August. Previously, the regime had given presidium member Pavel Latuschko the option to leave the country or face criminal prosecution. Lawyer Maxim Snak, along with Nobel Prize Winner for Literature Svetlana Alexievich, one of two members of the Council Presidium who remained in Belarus and who were still at large on Tuesday morning, said that Kolesnikova, Rodnenkov, Kravtsov and himself discussed what to do on sunday night. if they are given the option, like Kowalkowa or Latuschko, “leave the country or fall into repression.” Kolesnikova had taken the clear position that she did not want to leave the country under any circumstances, “only by force”.
