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US involved in attempted kidnapping of Russians in Belarus, FSB representative says

The official reiterated that the Russians were practically lured to Belarus by the military intelligence and the SBU under the guidance of the CIA

MOSCOW, September 8. /TASS/. An FSB representative confirmed information by CNN that the US was involved in the attempted kidnapping of members of the Wagner Group in Belarus.

"We completely confirm the information that was published by the CNN TV channel, it is absolutely true, they very objectively showed the role of the CIA in the preparation and execution, they showed that it was a joint operation with the GUR (the Main Directorate of Intelligence) of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry and the SBU, so we consider this information reliable," he told reporters on Wednesday.

According to him, this information is not exclusive. "Already a year ago there was an investigation by Alexander Kots in Komsomolskaya Pravda, documents were presented that confirm all of this, so what CNN has not managed to confirm by now, we are addressing to the year-old materials that were published by Alexander Kots," the FSB representative said. "The case with the so-called Wagner Group - this is an inherently criminally punishable act, this is the planned kidnapping of Russian citizens from the territory of a third country, and everything that’s going on, everything that we see on the part of the Ukrainian intelligence we cannot consider as anything other than an act of state terrorism - the instrument of which they represent," he emphasized.

The official reiterated that the Russians were practically lured to Belarus by the military intelligence and the SBU under the guidance of the CIA. "The goal was known, there was false information [conveyed] to the republic’s KGB that these people came to participate in mass disturbances on the side of the opposition, which is why Belarusian partners reacted like this. Then everything settled despite those attempts undertaken by the Ukrainian side. We remember Zelensky’s call to President Lukashenko very well," the FSB representative noted. Additionally, he said, during 2020 and 2021, Ukrainian saboteurs were being repeatedly detained in Crimea, there were attempts of terrorist attacks as well as an implosion of a gas pipeline. "In particular, not that long ago it was confirmed by documents that this was the work of the spy network of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry," he said.