The Belarusian authorities demanded that Vitaly Sizov, a reporter of Ukraine’s Hromadske TV of Donbas leave the territory of the country referring to the fact that Russia had put him on its list of unwelcome persons.
Mr Sizov who does have an accreditation by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry arrived in Minsk to make a report on the Trilateral contact group meeting on the conflict in Donbas region.
At 02.45 am (local time), the Minsk police entered a hotel room where the crew was staying and forcibly took Sizov to a police station.
According to the TV station representative Alexei Matsuka, Sizov was released at about 7 am.
“There I was told that Russia banned me from entering its territory until 2021. Belarus and Russia are make the Union State, that is why the travel ban also exyends to Belarus,” the Ukrainian journalist told svaboda.org.
The policemen reiterated that the entry ban was Russia’s initiative, to which Belarus bore no relationship at all, Sizov said. They failed to clarify the reasons for the ban, but recommended the Ukrainian to leave Belarus within 24 hours.
Belsat.eu, following svaboda.org
