‘Donbas is ours!’ Russians attempt to disrupt OSCE envoy conference on Ukraine in Minsk
A group of persons, who had Russian passports and press cards of the media outlet Russkaya Planeta and described themselves as representatives of the unregistered party The Other Russia, made an attempt to disrupt the press conference of OSCE’s special representative in the trilateral contact group on Ukraine Ambassador Martin Sajdik in Minsk on Wednesday evening.
They shouted slogans like “Donbas must be Russian! Stop killing people” and threw leaflets saying: “Poroshenko is a murderer! Minsk negotiations must be ceased!”
They were removed by law enforcement officials from the room. The press conference continued, and journalists received information about the outcome of the Trilateral contact group meeting. The next session of the trilateral contact group on Ukraine is scheduled to take place in Minsk on March 1, Martin Sajdik said.
“Any Russian who respect themselves should express solidarity with us and join our action. I don’t understand why it has not happened so,” one of the provocaters who refused to introduce himself told news agency BelaPAN.
“The press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs views this action as a deliberate provocation aimed at disrupting the negotiating process and discrediting the Minsk negotiating platform. The Belarusian side will continue to take all measures to ensure the safety and smooth operation of the trilateral contact group and will immediately stop all attempts to hinder its work,” Dzmitry Mironchyk, Spokesman for the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, said.
The Other Russia is a nationalist political party which has never been registered in the Russian Federation. It was founded in July, 2010 by members of the banned National Bolshevik Party at a congress in Moscow. On January 21, 2011 the party was denied official registration.
Since the beginning of Euromaidan in Kyiv in 2013, The Other Russia supported its opponents, and then – pro-Russian separatists in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Activists of the Other Russia established the volunteer movement ‘Interbrigada’ with the help of which the so-called party sent about 2,000 volunteer fighters to back the unrecognised Donetsk and Luhansk republics.
In turn, Russkaya Planeta states on its website that it is not related to any political parties or movements.
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Belsat.eu
