Thirty-two Russian citizens who were earlier detained in Belarus and whom Minsk described as members of the Wagner private military company have returned home, the Russian Prosecutor General's Office said.

"In line with Russian Prosecutor General Igor Krasnov's request dated August 5, 2020, according to the procedure stipulated by the Minsk Convention on Legal Assistance and Legal Relations on Civil, Family, and Criminal Cases of January 22, 1993, thirty-two citizens of the Russian Federation who were detained earlier in Belarus have crossed the Russian Federation's border and are currently in Russia," the office told Interfax.

The thirty-third Russian citizen, who also has Belarusian citizenship, stayed in Belarus, it said.

"The transfer of the said persons has been accomplished in strict compliance with international law and Russia's and Belarus's national laws, through close interaction between the prosecution authorities of our countries. The Russian Federation's competent authorities are continuing to look into the situation surrounding these citizens" it said.

Thirty-three Russian citizens suspected by the Belarusian authorities of being employees of the Wagner private military company and of planning to instigate mass unrest in the period of the Belarusian presidential election were detained near Minsk on July 29.

Russia insists that the Russians detained in Belarus return home and says that their culpability is not proven.