Two Belarusian brothers with ties to Belgium say the Russian media got it wrong: they're no terrorists

According to new reports, Belgian officials say they do not consider two Belarusian men to be suspects in the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels. In the hours after the attacks on March 22, several Russian media outlets reported that Alexey and Ivan Dovbash potentially played a role in the bombings, but the men told a local branch of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty that this is untrue. 

Ivan Dovbash says he reached out directly to Belgian law enforcement, when he and his brother learned of the rumors circulating about their alleged involvement in the attacks. “They told us that they hadn't heard anything about it, and they don't have anything against us,” Ivan told RFE/RL.

In an interview with Euroradio, Alexey Dovbash said he's encountered “no problems” with Belgian police, and “calmly” moves about within the European Union. He says Belgian police called the rumor “just local gossip,” and said they aren't paying it any attention.

Dmitry Pobyarzhin, the press secretary for the Belarusian KGB, announced late on March 22 that Alexey Dovbash was in Gomel, Belarus, at the time of the attacks in Brussels. At Alexey's request, Ivan, who's currently in Belgium, reported to an anti-terrorism unit to explain the brothers' innocence. 

According to Pobyarzhin, the Dovbash brothers and a Russian acquaintance named Marat Yunusov have been under Belarusian surveillance since 2014. Beginning last year, Belarusian police involved Russia's Federal Security Service in the operation. Pobyarzhin says Russian police have also transmitted information about Yunusov and the Dovbash brothers to Belarus, asking that it be conveyed to Belgian police. (It's unclear what this information was exactly, and if Minsk ultimately shared it with Brussels.)

On March 14, the Russian television station LifeNews reported that Belarusian citizens Alexey and Ivan Dovbash—two men said to have grown up in Belarus, where they adopted Islam—were wanted by police for allegedly preparing terrorist attacks in Belgium. On March 22, after deadly explosions at Brussels' airport and subway, the Russian news agency Sputnik claimed that the Dovbash brothers and their Russian acquaintance Marat Yunusov were suspected of involvement in the attacks. Belarusian police officials told the press that they are reviewing these reports.