Belarusian officials investigate video of women allegedly captured by Syrian rebels
Publisher | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty |
Publication Date | 14 August 2013 |
Cite as | Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Belarusian officials investigate video of women allegedly captured by Syrian rebels, 14 August 2013, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/521f466e11.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
August 14, 2013
By RFE/RL's Belarus Service
The video that has been circulating on the Internet since August 13 shows two young women surrounded by armed and masked men.
The Belarusian Embassy in Syria is investigating a video that has surfaced showing a woman claiming to be a Belarusian citizen captured by Syrian rebels.
Belarus Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Savinykh said on August 14 that it is too early draw firm conclusions from the video, which has been circulating on the Internet since August 13 and shows two young women surrounded by armed and masked men.
One of the women says she is from Moldova. The other calls herself Svyatlana Markiyanovich from Belarus.
The women say in the video that they are agents of Hizballah and came to Syria with falsified documents as journalists to collect information about the Free Syrian Army.
Last year, a Ukrainian female journalist, Ankhar Kochnyeva, was captured by Syrian rebels and spent almost three months in captivity before escaping.
With reporting by Interfax
Link to original story on RFE/RL website