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MINSK, Oct 10 (Reuters) – Belarus police detained dozens of
Ukrainian and Belarussian football fans who shouted patriotic
Ukrainian slogans and chanted abuse against Russian President
Vladimir Putin at a match, a rights organisation and local media
said on Friday.

Fans could be heard chanting an abusive anti-Putin refrain
on a video clip before the Euro 2016 qualifier started, while
witnesses said there were calls during the match of “Glory to
the Heroes!” and “Glory to Ukraine!” — stock Ukrainian rallying
cries in Kyiv’s conflict against Russian-backed separatists.

Putin, who was in Minsk on Friday for a summit of leaders of
the Commonwealth of Independent States, is a reviled figure in
Kyiv since Russia annexed Crimea in March and threw its support
behind separatists fighting government forces in eastern
Ukraine.

The Minsk-based human rights group Vesna-96 said about 40
people had been held, most of whom were either fined or placed
under arrest for five days.

The Belarussian police said in a statement some of those
detained had been released and 25 people would appear in court
charged with hooliganism.

In Kyiv, a Foreign Ministry spokesman, Evhen Perebiynis,
said: “At the present time, we know that there were 15 Ukrainian
citizens detained after the match. Three have been released, 12
are appearing in court. They are accused of sticking up
posters.”

Earlier this year, Belarus, a Moscow ally but with a solid
relationship with Ukraine, hosted talks on the Ukraine crisis
between Putin and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

Ukraine beat neighbouring Belarus 2-0 in the European
qualifier, which was played in the Belarussian town of Borisov.

“In general, the match passed off peacefully. The atmosphere
was fairly friendly,” the police statement said.

(Reporting by Andrei Makhovsky; Additional reporting by Pavel
Polityuk; Writing by Richard Balmforth; Editing by Sonya
Hepinstall)

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