“They grabbed him only because he was Ukrainian and had Signal on his phone.” Mother about the “agent” detained in Vitebsk

Andrey Shmay detained back on January 19th. The man’s mother did not know the reasons for the detention. He worked in the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, was a worker in the complex maintenance and repair of buildings and structures. As told in the film of the ONT channel, Shmai allegedly regularly sent information to Ukraine through the Signal messenger since September.

Messages addressed to his younger brother Ruslan. He serves in the Chernihiv department “North” as a major, deputy commander for operational issues.

“What agent, what spy? What could he even know, working as an ordinary worker? I watched this movie. I got the feeling that Andrey was reading “confessions” on a sheet of paper. It’s just some kind of reason. They clung to him, because he is a Ukrainian, a former border guard, and here he has a brother in the military. Yes, and I used Signal, ”says Irina.

The woman adds that her father was a pilot, her son Ruslan really serves, he is a military man. Andrei previously served as a border guard in Novye Yarilovichi, a checkpoint with Belarus. He moved to Vitebsk because his fiancee, who later became his wife, insisted on it.

“My son Ruslan, well, could not say anything or ask Andrei for something. After all, why should we set him up? We knew perfectly well what country he lives in. On the contrary, Ruslan asked him after 24 February 2022 to leave Belarus. We talked only about everyday topics: about the weather, about grandchildren. Well, you can follow his route! It was home, school, work and back. He didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t tell anyone anything,” says the mother of the Ukrainian.

She adds that Andrei’s detention is a great tragedy and misfortune for the whole family. Now the man is in jail. According to ONT, he is accused under Article 358-1 of the Criminal Code (“Undercover activity”).

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