MINSK, March 7. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Tuesday that commands to commit an act of sabotage against Russia’s A-50 aircraft had been sent from Ukraine’s security service (SBU) to Belarusian oppositionists in Poland.
"The commands were coming from the SBU to escapees abroad, in this case, in Poland. From there they contacted scoundrels here (in this case it was a medical doctor) and helped him to stay in hiding. Thanks to our operatives - the State Security Committee, the Interior Ministry and the border guards - we figured him out and detained," the BelTA news agency quotes Lukashenko as saying during an award presentation ceremony.
According to the Belarusian leader, the security forces had analyzed thousands of telephone calls, messages, meetings and conversations "by various scoundrels outside and inside the country and tracked down the saboteur."
"He was apprehended near Borovlyany [not far from Minsk], in a countryside home in some gardening community," Lukashenko said.
In the basement of the house the operatives found printing equipment and various kinds of opposition emblems and printed materials in stock. Lukashenko warned that all those involved in the sabotage attempt who were currently abroad must be found.
"My advice to them is to brace up. We are on the way. Our guys are already on their doorstep. May they get ready. The best option for them is to surrender on their own hands up. This will be salvation for them. We will figure them out. We will simply clean them out of our society," Lukashenko said.
Earlier, there were reports of an attack on the Machulishchy military airfield near Minsk and allegedly significant damage caused to an A-50 early warning plane. Belarus dismissed this as fake news. Later, the Belarusian television showed the plane in good condition moving along the runway.