Russian missile attack on Kiev/Telegram
The four Israeli citizens who were arrested in Thailand on the grounds that they appeared in the country without permission were supposed to get on a plane and return to Israel, but due to Russian pressure - it was decided at the last minute to keep them in detention in Thailand.
In Israel they are very afraid that in Thailand they will comply with the Russian demand to extradite them to Moscow for being opponents of the regime.
Authorities in Thailand last week arrested members of a Russian rock band, four of whom are Israeli citizens, on the grounds that they performed without work permits.
Seven members of the "B-2" band, which opposes the war in Ukraine, were arrested after a performance at a club on the island of Phuket last Thursday.
Each of them was fined about 95 dollars and they are supposed to be deported from the country in the coming days.
Regarding the three members of the band who are not Israeli, there is a fear that they will be extradited to Russia.
According to the Russian website The Insider, a source close to the Russian Foreign Ministry said that the band's performances - as well as that of the Russian comedian Maxim Galkin - were canceled at the request of the Russian consul in Phuket.
The two founders of the band are Israelis - Igor Bortnik and Alexander Uman.
Bortnik was even included last May in the list of "foreign agents" of the Ministry of Justice of Russia, although he was born in Belarus and is not a citizen of the country.
The band was founded in 1988 in Belarus, which was then part of the Soviet Union, and became one of the most popular rock bands among Russian speakers.
Russian rock band Bi-2, Moscow, February 15, 2018/Creative Commons, Reactor691
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