MINSK, March 14. /TASS/. Belarusian law enforcement agencies are aware of the plans of foreign extremists to destabilize the situation in the country, including with the help of Western-trained mercenaries, head of the Belarusian Interior Affairs Ministry’s Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption Andrey Ananenko said on Tuesday.

"Employees of the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption are well aware that members of extremist and terrorist organizations, such as the Kalinouski Regiment and other armed groups located abroad, are planning to destabilize the situation in Belarus. Mercenaries and people schooled in Western training camps can be used for this purpose," the agency's Telegram channel quoted the official as saying.

According to Ananeko, "the militants still have ties [in Belarus], in some cases even relatives and acquaintances, who form hidden cells to contribute to criminal activities and recruit people to engage in the armed conflict on the side of Ukraine." The top brass reported that since the beginning of 2022, eleven people were tried for attempting to leave Belarus and join armed formations as mercenaries. According to the agency’s information, the Kalinouski Regiment included 200 known participants. "So far 20 [Belarusian] casualties in the special military operation have been reported. The number of those wounded and missing amounted to dozens of people, some were captured or deserted," Ananeko said.

He stressed that the ties of those Belarusian militants fighting on the side of Ukraine as part of illegal armed formations were taken note of and were systematically monitored in order to prevent subversive activities in the country, as well as assistance to foreign radical initiatives.