Where is Belarusian opposition member Maria Kolesnikova? State media says she's been detained for attempting to cross into Ukraine, but opposition figures believe she was abducted by the state
Maria Kolesnikova, one of Belarus' opposition leaders, gestures during a rally in Minsk, Belarus. She and several other members of an opposition council in Belarus went missing Monday Sept. 7, 2020, Belarus state media say opposition protest leader Maria Kolesnikova is currently detained at the country's border with Ukraine.
The report came on Tuesday and says she was arrested while trying to cross the border into Ukraine during the early hours of the morning, though two of her allies managed to leave the country. The opposition movement shared its disbelief and maintain she had been abducted by masked men in central Minsk on Monday.READ MORE: State media denied this and said Kolesnikova had been removed from a car attempting to cross the border on Tuesday morning.Kolesnikova's abduction came just as she and members of the team of Viktor Babariko, who was jailed at the start of the campaign, said on Monday they were forming a new political party, called Together, a video shared online showed. "The country is in a political and socio-economic crisis, and together we know, how to exit this crisis... Very soon we will hand in the paperwork needed for registration," Kolesnikova said in the video. Country's from the EU and UK called on Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko's government to make the return of Kolesnikova its highest priority. Kolesnikova, a member of the opposition coordination council, is the last of three female politicians left in Belarus who joined forces before an August 9 presidential election to try to challenge veteran incumbent Lukashenko. "Seriously concerned for the welfare of Maria Kolesnikova," said Dominic Raab, Britain's foreign minister. "Lukashenko’s regime must make her safe return their highest priority. The regime must cease brutalising protesters, release political prisoners and begin dialogue with the opposition."
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