MINSK, July 30. /TASS/. Belarusian intelligence tipped Poland off about a terror attack plotted on its soil targeting opposition figure Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s children, according to Roman Protasevich, a former operative of Belarus’ State Security Committee (KGB).
TASS has compiled the key details available so far.
Plot to attack Tikhanovskaya’s children
- The attack Belarusian authorities tipped Poland off about was intended to target Svetlana Tikhanovskaya’s underage children, Protasevich said.
- According to him, the attack was being planned by former journalist Denis Dashkevich, a member of the Belarusian opposition.
- Dashkevich intended to have Tikhanovskaya’s children killed by Ukrainian hands, then "make a public political statement and commit suicide," Protasevich said.
Belarus Foreign Ministry’s statement
- On July 23, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry provided Polish Charge d’Affaires Krzysztof Ozanna with information about preparations for a terrorist attack in Poland.
- According to the ministry, an individual living in Poland who was previously convicted in Belarus on multiple criminal charges and recently stripped by Polish authorities of the right to reside in the country planned "to carry out an attack targeting the minor children of a Belarusian activist living in Poland, seeking revenge because she had failed to help him retain his legal status in Poland."
- The ministry identified the woman as the leader of a group designated as extremist in Belarus.
- Belarusian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Ruslan Varankov later told the BelTA news agency that Warsaw had given due consideration to the information provided by Minsk.
- Destructive elements taking shelter in Poland are beginning to pose a threat to the country's people, Varankov pointed out.
- Despite differences between Minsk and Warsaw on numerous issues, Belarus continues to uphold the principle of good neighborliness, particularly when human lives and health are at risk, Varankov said.
- He added that Poland had been provided with evidence against an individual espousing ‘mock-Christian values."
- His motives, contacts and criminal record in Belarus "indicate that the situation is extremely serious and the threat is tangible," the diplomat emphasized.
Poland’s reaction
- A spokesman for Poland's Foreign Ministry told reporters Polish authorities were carefully reviewing the information provided by Belarus about the terrorist plot.