MOSCOW, April 25. /TASS/. The US possible involvement in plotting a military coup in Belarus is being investigated, Russian Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov said in an interview with Moscow. Kremlin. Putin program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel.

This case is being considered by the Belarusian State Security Committee (KGB) and investigative bodies, Bortnikov said. "This issue is being examined as part of a criminal case, which is being investigated by the State Security Committee and the Belarusian investigative bodies," he said, speaking about the US role in the coup attempt.

Bortnikov stressed that the case files confirmed that this was an attempt to carry out a military coup. "This is confirmed by the unbiased and reliable data that we received after detaining individuals <...> in Moscow. At the moment, an active work of investigative agencies in Belarus is underway. So, the final conclusion should be made after the investigation ends," the FSB director said.

Situation in Belarus

Belarusian President Lukashenko announced on April 17 that opposition politician Grigory Kostusev, political analyst Alexander Feduta and lawyer Yuri Zenkovich had plotted an assassination attempt on him and his sons. He placed responsibility for the plot on US special services and US leaders. According to Chief of the Belarusian KGB Ivan Tertel, "the plotters planned a coup for this summer, June or July."

Later on, the Public Relations Center of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) reported that FSB officers had foiled the unlawful activity of dual Belarusian-American citizen Yuri Zenkovich and Belarusian national Alexander Feduta in a special operation with the republic’s KGB. According to the FSB, the persons in custody were plotting a military coup in Belarus via a "color revolution" scenario, involving local and Ukrainian nationalists, in addition to physically eliminating President Lukashenko. The military coup was scheduled for May 9 in Minsk during Victory Day Parade.

According to Belarusian investigators, the attempt to carry out a coup d’etat was sponsored from overseas and the plotters maintained close ties with terror groups. At least three scenarios of seizing power were worked out.