Russian President Vladimir Putin called the detention of a group of Russians in Belarus a joint operation of the Ukrainian and American special services.

He stated this in an interview with the federal channel of the Russian Federation..

" This is a special services action. People in the dark were used to move them to the territory of Belarus...

They were just dragged into the territory of Belarus and presented as a possible striking force to swing the situation during the election campaign. Which was completely untrue. People went to work in a third country. They were just lured there, dragged across the border. Our border guards didn't let them out, by the way. They couldn't enter. But according to forged documents they were actually imported. This is an operation of the Ukrainian special services together with the American. Now it is reliably known. Some participants in this process or observers, well-informed people, they do not even hide this, "