MINSK, December 13. /TASS/. Belarusian investigators have opened criminal cases against former Presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya and a number of other opposition figures currently staying abroad in order to establish an extremist militia called "Pospolite ruszenie" ["mass mobilization"] in Poland and Lithuania, Yevgeny Piletsky, head of the Belarusian Ministry of the Interior Main Directorate on combating organized crime and corruption said.

According to Piletsky, criminal cases were initiated against Valery Sakhaschik, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, Alexander Azarov and other people. "Currently, over 200 people are being checked as part of the criminal case," the Ministry representative said, according to the Ministry Telegram channel.

According to Piletsky, the abovementioned extremist group acts in cooperation with BYPOL extremist groups, the "Peramoga" and "Joint transitional cabinet" organizations, to carry out work "on organization of attempts against territorial integrity, sovereignty, foundations of the constitutional order and public security of the Republic of Belarus."

Minsk reportedly has information that the organization hires members from "fugitive criminals, representatives of diaspora and students studying abroad," who are supposed to later return to Belarus and act as a "fifth column," carrying out sabotage, terrorist and recruitment operations.

The organization is planned to be used to destabilize the situation inside the republic during the 2024-2025 electoral campaigns, among other things, Piletsky said.