Medvedev orders protection of Russians in Kyrgyzstan

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered Minister of the Defense Ministry Anatoly Serdyukov to ensure the personal and property safety of Russian people in Kyrgyzstan, said the Kremlin Tuesday.

All necessary preventive measures must be adopted to avoid incidents related to robberies or attacks, due to increasingly frequent violent attempts to seize property in the Central Asian country, said the presidential order.

An overnight riot near the Kyrgyz capital of Bishkek over land seizure left three people and 28 others injured on Monday.

Earlier Tuesday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed that ousted Kyrgyz President Kurmanbek Bakiyev was in Minsk.

Bakiyev fled to southern Kyrgyzstan on April 7 after thousands of protesters supportive of the opposition clashed with security forces throughout the country, driving out local governments and seizing government headquarters in Bishkek.

The opposition has formed an interim government led by former foreign minister Roza Otunbayeva.

Source: Xinhua