PMC arrests in Belarus

Noted, presently ordered from earlier reports to later reports.

Initial reports
Arrest: night of 28/29 July, 2020.

Belarus news agency reports that 33 Russian citizens have been detained, claiming that they belong to "Wagner" PMC. According to Russian sources, they in fact belong to private security firm "Mar" and after their arrest told Belarus authorities that they are going to Turkey via Belarus. In Turkey they were supposed to sign a contract and proceed to Libya, to guard Zuwarah oil terminal, said to be GNA-controlled. If explanation is correct, that would put them on the side opposite to the one supported by Russia (and allegedly Wagner). Photo, said to be of Mar founder Alexey Marushenko (also Ukr. source here), may have resemblance with a photo, video from Belarus news report; however this name is not listed in the Belarus report, and Alexey Marushenko has recorded a video stating that he is in Moscow and has no connection to the events. It appears that Belarus' officials fear (or pretend) that detained people are there to "destabilize" Belarus prior to the elections (which Lukashenko is set to win). Lukashenko, despite some tensions, is still Russia's ally, and "destabilizing" Lukashenko seems to go against Russia's interests.
 * Cassad: The wife of the former head of the MAR PMC Alexander Marushchenko reports that her husband is now in St. Petersburg and the PMC has been liquidated for 4 years. However, according to the extract from the Unified State Register of Legal Entities, the company was legally closed only in 2018. According to my information, her owner changed in 2018.
 * Russian ambassador, Russian FM: they were in Belarus in transit to Istanbul, missed their flight, booking/rebooking done by a Belarus company; no reason to have them detained.

Alleged contract

 * ''See Alleged contract on talk page.

Scans in Arabic were posted on Cassad, taken from some Arabic Twitter account post (nature of Twitter accound briefly discussed in the same article.

Alleged specialization

 * Real setup may turn out to be shocking - new details about the detained Russian "PMC fighters" - Rusvesna, July 31, 2020
 * Sudan and Venezuela named as alleged specialization of the PMC

Alleged destination

 * "Testimony is inconsistent": "PMC fighters" detained in Belarus were interrogated - Rusvesna, July 31, 2020 --Resup (talk) 21:47, 31 July 2020 (UTC)
 * New details about the detention of fighters of a private military company near Minsk. Where were the "tourists from Russia" actually going? - ont.by, July 31, 2020
 * Lukashenko comments: video (YouTube), (First Pool), text (belta.by), (TASS), August 1, 2020.
 * Russian Consul: their destination was "one of the countries in Latin America" - TASS, Aug. 3, 2020.
 * Lukashenko: Istanbul is a legend, destinations are "lies", the order was "to wait" in Belarus. Those arrested "told everything". (Overall, no major change in strong ties with Russia, with added "multi-vectorness", ties with USA and China on information technologies, etc).

Criminal case

 * Citizens of the Russian Federation were detained on suspicion of committing a crime - Belarus (criminal) investigation committee, July 30, 2020
 * The Russians and Belarus opposition figures are named in the same criminal investigation case:
 * ''In addition, a criminal case was initiated against N. Statkevich, S. Tikhanovsky and other persons on the fact of preparation for mass riots under Article 13, Part 2, Art. 293 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus.
 * Also yesterday, according to the results of a check of operational information received from the special services, 33 citizens of the Russian Federation, employees of the Wagner PMC, who lived on the territory of the Belorusochka sanatorium in the Minsk region, were detained on suspicion of committing the indicated  (above) crime.
 * Lukashenko instructed to invite the Prosecutors General of Russia and Ukraine because of the detained Russians - TASS, August 6, 2020
 * ...continues on a path which has no good ending ... --Resup (talk) 08:13, 6 August 2020 (UTC)

Other allegations, arrests

 * Lukashenko: there is a hybrid war against Belarus, and we should be prepared for dirty tricks from any side - BelTA, August 6, 2020
 * Lukashenko: We don't even know who they are. Either it is the Americans with NATO, or someone from Ukraine is pressing us, or our Eastern brothers "love" us so much - we do not even know.
 * ''Some people were detained with American passports, married to American women working in the State Department. But with "bayonets at the ready" they are protected by Russian leaders
 * Meeting on ensuring the security of the election campaign, video-president.gov.by, August 6, 2020
 * Journalists of American TV channel detained in Minsk - Rusvesna, August 7, 2020
 * Journos of Current Time TV (a RFE/RL/Voice of America project) with Ukrainian and Russian citizenships arrested

Lukashenko

 * Quarrels with Putin, Tikhanovskaya, Wagner, Zelensky, Poroshenko, Crimea, wife, son Nikolai. Gordon's interview with Lukashenko. Broadcast - August 6, 2020
 * Telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin - president.gov.by, August 7, 2020
 * Telephone conversation with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko - kremlin.ru, August 7, 2020
 * Lukashenko unveils details of arrest of 33 people from Russia- BelTA, September 9, 2020
 * “After that I received information that it had been done by Americans through Ukraine. But Ukrainians said: it is not us, it is America,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Alexander Kots version of events

 * The arrest of 33 Russians in Minsk turned out to be a provocation of the Ukrainian special services - Alexander Kots, "Komsomolskaya Pravda", August 6, 2020
 * This investigation, with some documented evidence, appears to show that the events are a result of a set-up. He says that it was organized by SBU; I'd say it shows that it was organized by a group using fake IDs and contact details, with travel reservations managed in Ukraine. --Resup (talk) 23:14, 6 August 2020 (UTC)
 * “This is definitely Ukrainian 'handwriting!' (ie style) ”: “Stolen identity” was involved in provocation with Russians in Minsk- Alexander Kots, "Komsomolskaya Pravda", August 7, 2020

Border crossing
Long delays both ways are reported, attributed to Russian border guards manually recording passport details and phone numbers
 * ex-press.by, August 1, 2020

Ukrainian claims of Ukrainian responsibility

 * Butusov: PMC in Belarus is an operation of Ukraine, which failed because of a mole in the OP - liga.net, August 18, 2020, and Facebook posts by Butusov and Shevchenko linked in the article.
 * ''NABU freelance agent Yevgeny Shevchenko clarifies that for an unscheduled landing of the plane, one of the counterintelligence officers had to simulate an epileptic seizure.

Analysis

 * The 'Russian Coup' Plot In Belarus Was Faked By Ukraine - Moon of Alabama, August 7, 2020
 * Did the Ukrainian leadership save the “Wagnerites”? - Timoschuk, The Duran, October 13, 2020

PMC members comments
32 men have been returned to Russia. One man, who has double citizenship including Belarusian remains in Belarus.

Interview with 3 group members. They believed that they were in transit, and were told by "Larisa Nikolaevna Samarina" doing all bookings that there was a problem with connecting flight from Istanbul to Venezuela via Cuba and that she re-booked their flight from Minsk on 30 July. They never saw or met Samarina. They were not there for any assignment to do with Belarus, and were not closely following events there, as they believed they are in transit in a friendly country. Change from Livia or Syria to Venezuela assignment happened when they were told that "Seregey Petrovich" was killed, and a new curator, "Artur" was assigned. They received some moneys for travel expenses and subsistence. When the flight was delayed, they were told that they will still receive their agreed salary while waiting in Belarus.

"Russian PMC about Belarus without cuts / Bags on the heads / Beating / Lukashenko's apologies" - War Gonzo, August 29, 2020
 * PMC's call sign "Zloi" (angry). He and others met Lukashenko's son after the release.

Putin comments

 * Russia 1 interview, (English), August 27, 2020
 * Putin blames Ukrainian and US services for the set-up.