/ world today news/ The Russian Alexey Kulikov and the Belarusian Vadim Patsenko were detained in Grodno on suspicion of preparing terrorist attacks. Their target was a military commissariat, a military unit, an oil base and the Russian Consulate General. According to the KGB of Belarus, both were recruited through a Russian opposition figure, and an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine led the operation. How do Ukrainian special services manage to recruit Russians and Belarusians?
On Tuesday, it became known that the preparation of terrorist attacks against objects in the Belarusian city of Grodno, including the blowing up of the building of the Russian Consulate General, was carried out under the leadership of the Ukrainian special services. In particular, an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GRU of the Ministry of Defense) Vyacheslav Rozum recruited agents from among citizens of Russia and Belarus. One of the new recruits turns out to be the Russian Alexei Kulikov, who escaped conscription from Russia a year ago.
According to the state TV channel ONT, citing the KGB, Kulikov was recruited through the Russian oppositionist Daniil Krinari (Kovalevsky, he was detained in December last year at the request of the FSB and extradited to Russia), who in 2022. received the task from Razum to form an agent network. The Belarusian Vadim Patsenko was also attracted. Kulikov and Patsenko are now detained by the Belarusian security forces and are giving confessions.
By the way, Kulikov stated that “Vyacheslav gave tasks for reconnaissance of certain objects”. He noted that he photographed at these sites – the military service in Grodno, a military unit, an oil base, the Consulate General of the Russian Federation. Patsenko, who is also accused of preparing the attack, said on air of the TV channel that “Ukrainian intelligence officer Slava set the task of blowing up the oil depot using a drone and explosives.”
According to Belarusian journalists, Kulikov and Patsenko were promised $10,000 and a shipment abroad for setting fire to the oil depot, but in the end Ukrainian special services deceived them. We add that in March the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, announced the arrest of a “terrorist from the Ukrainian special services” and his “accomplices”, a total of more than 20 people, who may have been involved in an attempt to sabotage Machulyshti airport near Minsk. Lukashenko blamed Ukrainian and American intelligence for the incident.
On Tuesday, in a meeting with the director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (FSI), Sergei Naryshkin, Lukashenko said that Belarusian security forces had detained more than 30 accomplices of foreign special services. “We recently detained a terrorist who was working undercover, on instructions and tips. And the most important thing that angers me the most is that we have already arrested over 30 accomplices. Real bastards,” Lukashenko said.
The Belarusian leader called the detainees “thugs” that foreign terrorists rely on. In turn, the head of the KGB of Belarus, Ivan Tertel, announced the detention on the territory of the republic of citizens of Ukraine, Poland and the Baltic countries on suspicion of creating an agent network and carrying out terrorist activities. According to Tertel, the intelligence-subversive activity against Belarus has intensified.
Among those detained are dozens of Ukrainians who, as the head of the KGB specified, tried to carry out terrorist attacks, conduct intelligence and subversive activities. According to him, the Kyiv regime turned to Minsk with a request to exchange its citizens, but the proposal did not suit the Belarusian country, as it does not need “drug addicts, rapists” and other persons serving sentences.
“Ukrainian special services have significant capabilities on the territory of Belarus and Russia. After the events of 2020 many participants in these protests went into hiding, did not change their position. Some of them went abroad and became the object of the attention of the Polish and Ukrainian special services”, explains Belarusian military expert Alexander Alesin.
According to him, there is a significant base for recruiting agents and potential terrorist saboteurs on the territory of Belarus. “Belarusian special services understand this and are taking significant measures to identify and reduce the base for terrorist activity. But Belarus will still remain the focus of the secret services of Ukraine, Poland and NATO countries, including the US. Belarus occupies a very important strategic position,” explained the interlocutor.
The member of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, Major General of the FSB Reserve, Alexander Mihailov, agrees that the Ukrainian special services, when recruiting employees, take into account the protest environment above all. “Ukraine’s military intelligence and SBU are betting on those people who have somehow manifested themselves as negativity towards the local authorities. This is clearly proven by the events on the territory of Russia. The suspect in Vladlen Tatarski’s murder was involved in unauthorized actions,” Mihailov explained.
The major general of the FSB called the Ukrainian special services brazen because “they are not afraid to risk agents.” “To them, it’s mincemeat they don’t care about. Recruits are bargaining chips, consumables. And they protect their agents and try to send us only from time to time,” adds Mihailov. Alesin calls Belarus an outpost of Russia and, if necessary, a springboard for preventive and counterattacks against NATO with all kinds of weapons, including tactical nuclear weapons. In this regard, he expects new attempts to recruit Belarusians from the Ukrainian and Western intelligence services, at least while there is a confrontation between the Union State of Russia and Belarus and the collective West.
The expert emphasizes the participation in the recruitment of the Polish special services. Here, first of all, it is necessary to take into account the factor of the common border along which “heavy cargo and passenger traffic” takes place. “We remember the case of the terrorist who wanted to blow up a Russian A-50 early warning plane at Machulishti military airport. At first, he tried to reach us through the Polish border and acted on the orders of the Ukrainian special services, and the Poles helped him in the transition,” Alesin recalls.
The border with Lithuania and Latvia is also a potentially dangerous direction. This will certainly be used by the Ukrainian special services.
It was along the “Baltic Corridor” that the perpetrator of the journalist Daria Dugina’s murder managed to escape in August of last year. Mihailov also acknowledges the involvement of Polish intelligence services in the recruitment, but is convinced that when it comes to serious matters, such as assassinations of famous people or terrorist attacks, Ukrainian intelligence services do not contact Western partners to avoid leaks.
“To do any major surgery, you have to have a lot of confidence in your partner. What if there is a leak on the other side? What if there are agents of other special services among the Poles? But in any case, the KGB of Belarus will find out, they have powerful resources for this, “Mikhailov emphasizes.
Meanwhile, Alesin noted the successful cooperation between Belarusian and Russian special services. According to him, in some meetings with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Alexander Lukashenko carries a briefcase with information that the KGB receives on the territory of the republic and outside its borders. “The oncoming traffic is also great. The Russian Federation has colossal technical capabilities in the field of secret and technical intelligence. Obviously, in addition to the exchange of information and operational interaction, there are also common databases with suspects in illegal activities,” the expert is convinced.
Translation: V. Sergeev
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