Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry’s spokesman Oleh Nikolenko informed that “the number of the Ukrainian citizens detained by Dubai police is 12, not 11, as media reported earlier. Ukraine’s Consulate general visited the detained group today, on Tuesday.”

The Consulate general also met with the Dubai Criminal Investigation Department officials to discuss the Ukrainian nationals’ arrests.

“Local police officials confirmed that the Ukrainians were detained in connection with violation of public morals and ‘lewd behavior’ photos and videos on social media. According to the UAE laws, such offences assume  deportation and fines of up to 1,300 US dollars”, stated the Ukrainian diplomat.

Nikolenko assured that the Ukrainians were held in tolerable conditions and had food and medical counsel. The Ukrainian consulate diplomats were in constant touch with the detainees families and closely following the situation.

The story hit the news over the previous weekend when a nude balcony photoshoot in Dubai went viral. The incident was filmed by an onlooker from a nearby hotel in uscale Dubai Marina. Citing offence to public morals, the local police made arrests of all the people featured in the video.