Five arrested for hanging out white-red-white, Ukrainian flags on apartment block

September 15, BPN. Five people, aged between 35 and 51, have been arrested for hanging out white-red-white and Ukrainian flags at a 19-storey residential building in Minsk in late August, said the interior ministry’s press office.

Police reportedly learned about the flags from a message to their Telegram channel, Militsia Minsk.

Vital Semiancoŭ, head of the Minsk Central District Police Department, said that the arrested subscribed to Telegram channels deemed extremist.

He added that that “the so-called protest act was organized by a woman from Minsk who now lives abroad.” She allegedly recruited people via messengers and later sent reports of the work done for sharing on media considered extremist.

The police say that the arrested were involved in “extremist activities,” while some participated in 2020 post-election protests. Charges against them remain unknown.