MINSK (BELARUS) – Prominent protest leader Maria Kolesnikova was detained on Tuesday by Belarusian authorities, said a border official. This comes after an attempt to expel her failed.
According to the Interfax news agency of Ukraine, the activist had destroyed her passport so that Ukrainian border officials would not be able to allow her through.
In a Facebook post, Ukrainian Deputy Interior Minister Anton Gerashchenko said the protest leader, who had been missing for the past 24 hours, had successfully prevented “a forcible expulsion from her native country”.
Kolesnikova’s whereabouts remained a mystery after supporters said she was whisked off the street by masked men in Minsk in the midst of a protest against President Alexander Lukashenko on Monday.
“Maria Kolesnikova was not able to be deported from Belarus as this brave woman took steps to prevent herself from being moved across the border. She remained on the territory of the republic of Belarus. Alexander Lukashenko is personally responsible for her life and health,” Gerashchenko said.
Two other opposition leaders who went missing around the same time as her – Anton Rodnenkov and Ivan Kravtsov – managed to enter Ukraine on Tuesday morning.
“Kolesnikova has now been detained, I can’t say concretely where she is, but she has been detained,” said Belarus border official Anton Bychkovsky.
