MINSK, March 7. /TASS/. Belarus’s State Security Committee (KGB) has established the involvement of Ukraine’s security service SBU in an attempted act of sabotage against Russia’s A-50 airborne early warning aircraft at the Machulishchy airfield near Minsk.
The KGB’s counter-intelligence measures exposed the direct involvement of the SBU’s top officials and operatives in staging the terrorist attack, the deputy head of the KGB’s investigation department, Konstantin Bychek, said on Tuesday.
"A system was revealed that the special services of Ukraine use to recruit Ukrainian citizens for committing acts of terrorism on the territory of foreign states. Umbrella organizations were identified that train and instruct them. The tactic of using explosives, mechanisms for communication with and handling of agents, and channels for evacuating agents were studied and eliminated," the BelTA agency quotes the KGB official as saying.
The KGB opened a case under Article 289 of the Criminal Code (act of terrorism).
"More than 20 suspects, including the perpetrator - a Ukrainian secret service agent - have been detained," Bychek said. "Currently, the State Security Committee, in cooperation with other state bodies concerned, is carrying out large-scale activities aimed at scrutinizing potential suspects ‘in the destructive social environment’ for their involvement in illegal activities. The detainee, identified as Shvets, is actively cooperating with the investigation and making confessions,"
Bychek stated that evidence had been gathered testifying to the fact Polish secret services’ agents in the group of the opposition members who had fled Belarus and active participants in the events during the 2020 presidential elections were used in preparations for the terrorist attack. The KGB official noted that the operation to search for and detain the criminals was held under the direct control of the head of state. "A network of agents consisting of Belarusian citizens was uncovered and liquidated. The network was responsible for supporting the activity of the terrorist agent, for legalizing him in Belarus and for his evacuation, which eventual failed," the KGB official said.
On Tuesday, Lukashenko said that an agent of the Ukrainian secret services and more than 20 of his accomplices involved in attempted act of sabotage against the A-50 aircraft were detained in Belarus. According to the Belarussian leader, the plane did not suffer any significant damage. Belarus asked Russia to take the plane for maintenance and to send a replacement, which has been done.