British YouTuber denies reports of getting arrested at Russian space center

British YouTube travel vlogger Benjamin Rich, famous for exploring some of the most dangerous parts of the world, was reportedly arrested at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to Russian authorities.

A Belarusian woman named Alina Tseliupa was also arrested with Rich. The two were detained near one of the launch pads at Baikonur.

The head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, confirmed the incodent via a post on Telegram on Saturday and posted photos of Rich's visa and Tseliupa's passport. He added that the local authorities were determining "the exact level of participation in illegal activities," by the two.

However, in an Instagram post, Rich denied the reports that he had been arrested. He said that he was merely questioned by police after he visited the Baikonur Cosmodrome. He claimed that he was fined for not acquiring the permission slip to see a Buran rocket, a Soviet-era orbiter.

He said: "I've woken up to a load of messages asking me if I'm ok. Apparently, people think I'm in a Gulag because of some Twitter post," according to a report in The Independent.

"Basically, I was questioned by Russian police for a few hours for going to see the Buran rocket without the special permission and given a £60 administrative fine just like hundreds of foreign adventurers before me," Rich added.

He later clarified that it was not a criminal offense to not have a permission slip so he was fined like "hundreds of others before him." Rich's YouTube channel "Bald and Bankrupt" has 3.53 million followers.

Russia has leased Baikonur Cosmodrome from its former Soviet neighbour Kazakhstan. It is essentially a launch complex, and the rocket which made Yuri Gagarin the first man to go into space was also launched from Baikonur.

The city was once at the heart of the super-secretive space programme of the former Soviet Union, but has now been opened for tourists and anyone who wishes to visit the site needs to apply for permission from the Russian authorities.