Belarus Releases Detained Russian Television Crew
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MINSK, Belarus — A day after a sharp exchange with the Kremlin, Belarussian President Alexander G. Lukashenko backed off from his rigid stance Friday and ordered four Russian journalists released from jail.
A fifth journalist, also working for Russian public television station ORT, was expelled from Belarus and put on a train headed for Moscow, officials said.
The four--the second ORT crew jailed in Belarus in recent weeks--were detained a week ago near the Belarus-Lithuania border and charged with trying to cross it illegally.
Both crews were said to be doing reports on Belarus’ porous borders and the movement of contraband goods.
Moscow demanded Thursday that the journalists be released. Belarus initially appeared to comply, but then Lukashenko got angry and accused Russia of “blackmail.”
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