Russia's Meduza independent media outlet has lost contact with its correspondent, Maksim Solopov, who had been covering overnight protests in Belarus, Galina Timchenko, the media's executive director, told Sputnik
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 10th August, 2020) Russia's Meduza independent media outlet has lost contact with its correspondent, Maksim Solopov, who had been covering overnight protests in Belarus, Galina Timchenko, the media's executive director, told Sputnik.Earlier in the day, Daily Storm news outlet editor-in-chief Alena Sivkova told Sputnik that its journalists, Anton Starkov and Dmitriy Lasenko, had been beaten up and detained in the Belarusian capital of Minsk as they covered the presidential election, noting that Solopov from Meduza "got a lot more."
"We cannot find him," Timchenko said, adding that the contact with the correspondent had been lost since 1 a.m. Monday (22:00 GMT Sunday).
According to the Belarusian Central Election Commission's official figures, incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko secured 80.08 percent of the vote, while opposition candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya came in second with 10.09 percent of the vote.
The Belarusian Interior Ministry said on Monday that roughly 3,000 people were detained during the weekend protests. Reporters from multiple news outlets, including Sputnik Belarus, were detained in Minsk while attempting to cover the protests.
