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At Union State’s Special Service
// Moscow intelligence showed the trace of Polish spies to Minsk colleagues
Kommersant learned on Sunday the details of a notorious operation carried out by Belarusian KGB. Former servicemen of Russia’s and Belarus’ armies were arrested. They were accused of being linked to Poland’s special services. The spies now face long imprisonment terms for treason. Meanwhile, sources in the staff of the Russia-Belarus Union State’s secretary said that Russia’s FSB (Federal Security Service) played the key role in exposing the enemy agents.
Belarusian KGB reported on Friday about discovering a foreign agent network. Although the spies, as it turned out later, were neutralized back in January 2007, the operation’s details became known on Sunday. KGB deputy head Major General Viktor Vegera spoke on air of Belarusian TV. He said that KGB officers disclosed Poland’s agent network acting on the territory of Belarus. Five people were arrested on espionage charges. They are four former Belarusian servicemen and one Russian. They were collecting data for Polish special services. According to Vegera, they were interested in data concerning the strategic elements of the Russia-Belarus unified air defense system, primarily the S-300 anti-aircraft missile defense system. However, Vegera underlined the spies were prevented from harming the Russia-Belarus Union State’s defense capacity.
After the KGB official’s speech, Belarusian TV showed the four reclaimed spies. One of them, former serviceman of Belarusian air defense forces Vladimir Russkin, gave a detailed response about the reasons why he cooperated with Poland’s intelligence. Russkin said he was enrolled at his attempt to export alcohol from Poland, which exceeded the allowed amount by 5 times. He said they offered him two variants: either deportation for 5 years plus confiscation of his car and a fine, or cooperation with the Polish intelligence. Russkin confessed he had chosen the second variant. Then he organized agent network and began collecting strategically important information, passing it on to the intelligence. He was helped by Major Viktor Bogdan, chief intelligence officer of a Belarusian air defense missile brigade, radio-radar brigade servicemen Kornelyuk and Petkevich, and Russian army officer Yurenia [their first names are not mentioned]. The agents photographed the secret documentation of air forces and air defense troops with film cameras, then digitized the data, and saved it to flash memory sticks. They used hiding-places for intelligence data transfer, and made a container inside a car fire-extinguisher for moving the data across the border.
Russkin was arrested in January 2007 at the Warsaw Bridge border crossing point, while trying to export the secret data on the Union State’s air policing system at the western front. His three accomplices were arrested soon afterwards. Meanwhile, according to Minsk, Russian army Major Yurenia came to give himself up to the FSB.
Belarusian KGB spokesman Valery Nadtochaev said it is now being decided to which particular court should the espionage criminal case be directed.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry did not respond to Belarusian sensational accusations. Tadeus Ivinski, member of the Sejm Foreign Affairs Committee, said the notorious Polish spies case is a “purely domestic news pretext”: “All this is necessary to show the country is surrounded by enemies. Poland has nothing to do with it.”
Russia’s FSB refrained from comments on the Russian officer’s connection to the espionage for Poland. “We give no comments on the issue. No comments at all,” said FSB spokesman Sergei Ignatchenko. He also refused to give the full name of the Russian officer mixed in the scandal.
Meanwhile, sources in the staff of the Russia-Belarus Union State’s secretary spoke more openly. They assured that the FSB played the key role in exposing the enemy agents. “Major Yurenia came to the FSB, confessed everything, and the case moved on. We began joint work and joint surveillance, and here’s the result,” said the Union State secretary’s assistant Ivan Makushok. “Our special services work together well. If the economists worked the same way, the Union State would have been created long ago.” Makushok added that Yurenia might escape punishment due to his active cooperation with investigators. Anyway, he definitely will not be extradited to Minsk. Answering the question ‘isn’t the operation by Belarusian KGB a put-up show’, Makushok answered: “It can hardly be a show. There are so many spies. Yet, I think that Poland is not the final customer. The enemy is somewhere across the ocean.”
Vladimir Soloviev; Andrei Kozhemyakin, Minsk
All the Article in Russian as of July 17, 2007
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