Lukashenko reveals details of capture of Ukrainian terrorist, his accomplices in Belarus

MINSK, 7 March (BelTA) – Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko has revealed how a terrorist employed by Ukrainian intelligence agencies and his accomplices, who had been involved in an attempt to sabotage the Russian airborne early warning and control aircraft A-50 at the Machulishchi airfield, were captured. The head of state made the relevant statements as he presented government awards and shoulder straps to high-ranking officers on 7 March, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Lukashenko remarked that the men in uniform had brought a gift to this festive event. “One can say this story is unbelievable. I once again beg your pardon for talking unofficially and wanting to tell you about this exceptional and unbelievable gift not as the president but as an ordinary person,” he said.

The beginning

Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that things were put into motion 6-8 months ago. The exact timing has yet to be determined. The events happened in Kiev. “Ukraine's security service SBU, the leadership of the [U.S. intelligence service] CIA worked out an operation against the Republic of Belarus either behind our backs or from the side. A terrorist was trained. He is a Russian national with a Russian passport and a Ukrainian passport. He was born in Krivoi Rog and lived in Crimea. There are some relatives in Austria and some relatives in Kiev. He was recruited by Ukraine's intelligence service probably in 2014. An IT professional or someone, who knows IT technologies well. He was trained to carry out terrorist attacks,” the Belarus president shared the details.

He recalled a sabotage attack previously committed against the Russian airfield Engels: “A terrorist attack against Russian aircraft in Engels was carried out several months ago. We saw cosmic imagery of results of the terrorist attack. The damaged Russian strategic aircraft. He [the saboteur who was inserted into Belarus] was not tasked for it. Other groups, who had been carefully trained together with our so-called terrorist in Ukraine's territory, were instructed to carry it out.”

The saboteur was trained by SBU representatives and state-of-the-art technologies were employed. “What we saw in the course of the operation in Belarus was something truly incredible. Most advanced technologies were employed. He had spent months training for it. After training he was routed (as the KGB says) into our territory,” the president said.

The way to Belarus

Naturally he could not reach Belarus by crossing the Ukrainian border. That border is closed. This is why the route Warsaw-Brest, Warsaw-Lodz-Riga-Pskov was chosen. And then he came to Minsk.

Aleksandr Lukashenko instructed Chairman of the State Border Committee of Belarus Anatoly Lappo, who was present during the ceremony, to find the Belarusian border guard, who had steadfastly refused entry into Belarus' territory for the terrorist near Brest. “He was offering various excuses, crying and wailing that he would suffer a mischief in Ukraine if he was denied entry. But our guy did well. And although he could understand the terrorist as a human being, he told him that things like that don't happen in Belarus: ‘If you enter Belarus using the Ukrainian passport [he had a Russian passport and a Ukrainian one], then I will have to register you here.' The terrorist didn't need that. He returned to Warsaw. Ukraine gave him a backup route. Warsaw-Lodz-Riga as I've already said. And he crossed the Latvian-Russian border there,” the Belarusian leader shared the details.

Aleksandr Lukashenko went on saying: “Unfortunately, the Russian border service let him through. Although they were supposed not to. He was travelling using a Russian domestic passport. Russians have passports for foreign travels. He had no right to cross the border. Nevertheless, he went to Pskov and then came to Minsk by bus.”

Preparations for a failed terrorist attack

“I am not going to reveal the details of how the crime instruments, these drones were handed over. They chose a small drone. If they had opted for a big drone, then surely our tracking systems would have spotted it. But we've identified this small drone of Chinese make that is also available in our stores. This Chinese drone was sold in the USA and then transported to Ukraine. And these two drones were used in Ukraine, this man was trained as well as the others, who were helping him. We will tell you about that later on, too,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“This terrorist attack was prepared. You know the results. Fortunately, the aircraft was not significantly damaged except for, I am told, scratches and one hole in the body, which does not prevent the military aircraft from doing its job. We've demonstrated this aircraft to you. I am told it even welcomed the president on my flight back from Beijing. Nevertheless, we asked Russians to take this aircraft for maintenance and send us another one. So they did,” the head of state remarked.

The aircraft

Aleksandr Lukashenko explained what missions the A-50 aircraft carried out in Belarus: “What kind of an aircraft is it? It is not a Russian aircraft in Belarus' territory. I asked the Russian president to send an Air Force group to me so that we could keep an eye on the perimeter of our Belarusian borders and practice certain skills as part of the Belarusian-Russian regional military force.”

“This aircraft never flew into the territory of Ukraine. It didn't even get close to the border (it doesn't have to) of Poland, Lithuania – all these bastards that work against Belarus today. We worked very carefully. We didn't give anyone a reason for it,” the president stressed.

The story of the capture

“After the completion of the terrorist attack and the attempt to blow up this expensive reconnaissance A-50 aircraft, routes to exfiltrate him [the terrorist] from Belarus' territory were created. We understood that he was a very valuable person for them,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

“Upon my instruction even before the business trip to China (you'd probably guessed it) the strictest orders were given to defense, security, and law enforcement officers. They are here now. I swore at you and spoke obscenities back then. It is erased today. But don't forget it,” the head of state noted.

Security at Belarusian borders was beefed up. “But we understood that the Belarusian-Russian border is our main problem. We have no military units over there. And there is no border between Russia and Belarus. And to prevent him from exfiltrating into Russia was our key task. Because it would have been very difficult to find him in huge and bottomless Russia. We understood it. This is why hundreds and possibly thousands of military personnel of all units were put on alert in order to close Belarus,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said.

Certain steps were taken. An antiterrorist HQ was deployed under the leadership of Chairman of Belarus' KGB Ivan Tertel. “We provoked Ukrainians by showing them that we were conducting some operations over there. They fell for it and practically demonstrated with their actions where they wanted to extract this terrorist. Naturally, [Chairman of the State Border Committee of Belarus Anatoly] Lappo locked the border. They noticed they would be unable to cross the border. And they switched to a backup extraction plan. But they had to create a new channel before extracting him,” the president said.

Aleksandr Lukashenko said he had been stunned by the use of cutting-edge technologies during this entire operation: “They created a special program for him [the terrorist]. Most probably, the American CIA did it. He was given special telephones that allowed them to watch his every move in audio and video modes. They saw where he was travelling, who he was meeting with and talking to, and so on. And then there was a twin phone. It is very important. It is the second thing that surprised me. We made a small mistake when he left this phone in the apartment (we didn't know it, we were not aware of it), took the twin phone and they controlled him through this phone from then on.”

“The SBU ordered him to do it so that they could see us right away when we entered this apartment following his trail. So it happened. Honestly speaking, I was in China back then and after your report I started doubting we would find him fast,” the president shared the details.

He continued: “My second unbelievable surprise happened when you found out his location by analyzing thousands of calls, negotiations, meetings, and conversations of all kinds of scoundrels inside and outside our country. You just found out his whereabouts in an office. Two locations. When you reached this location where he was lying low and waiting for a new route, you captured him in this first apartment in some dacha community outside Borovlyany. In a basement converted into a printing house with all kinds of white-red-white rags and other literature. Well, a dirt bag lived there. Feel free to make a conclusion. I've always said that we must never calm down.”

“The SBU sent orders to fugitive oppositionists staying abroad. In Poland in this case. They contacted local scoundrels (it was a medic in this case) and helped him hide here. Mind you, during the initial stage and during the final stage of our operation. And possibly god helped us and a miracle happened. Thanks to our operatives – the State Security Committee, the Internal Affairs Ministry, and the border service – we found him and captured him. So far over 20 accomplices in Belarus' territory have been arrested. The rest are hiding over there [abroad].”

Cleansing

“To prevent speculations, I want everyone to understand and I don't deny it that several days ago, even before this operation I ordered to cleanse the entire country mercilessly. It is a lesson for us. They are hiding and lying low. They sit and wait for something. Things will be the way they were in 1941. There is nothing to hide: when the Nazi came here, there were these cells and there were collaborators. They joined up and worked together with these fascists. Nothing has changed. This is why we have to find them,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “And I want to tell them to get ready. We are already coming for them. Our guys are already at their doorstep. They should get ready. The best option is for them to come and surrender. It will be a salvation for them. We will identify all of them. We will cleanse them from our society.”

“They have understood nothing over the two years and a half. They still don't understand that we approached them humanely: if you have come to your senses, feel free to come back. And it cancels nothing. There are crazy and addled people over there. They may come back. We are already getting applications. But those, who committed and particularly who are committing such crimes and aid terrorists, we will find them,” he stated.

Reasoning behind the attack

Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed that actions to blow up the aircraft had been of no military significance. “Even if something had happened to this aircraft, it is not the only one. Everything was invented for mass media consumption. And everything was connected like links in one chain – a terrorist attack here in Machulishchi and events in Bryansk Oblast where a sabotage and reconnaissance force of about 40 or more scoundrels came from Ukraine's territory, shot civilians and injured a child. You are aware of it. Those were links of the same chain. In order to demonstrate to the West what they are still capable of. They need money after all. And our fugitive oppositionists expected to get funding in exchange for it,” the president said.

He instructed mass media to reveal all the details: “Show every detail of it. Show these scumbags, who sit in Poland and Ukraine and are ready to destroy in exchange for food. Not betray the Motherland but destroy our people. We have to demonstrate the dynamics, how they claimed that everyone, who committed the terrorist attack in Machulishchi, had already fled the country. By doing it, they prompted us to believe that they are still here. If they had been abroad, they would have shown their face. Then I told the security agencies: ‘Look, he is here!' They just failed like the morons they are. And we started an active search here.”

Conclusions about Zelenskyy

“It is good. It was a brilliant operation. I can hardly believe you've been able to find all the accomplices and arrest them within merely 4-5 days. A needle in a haystack. But we must always stay vigilant,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stressed. “One conclusion. I thought that Ukraine needed peace, that Zelenskyy is concerned about his nation. President Zelenskyy is just a scumbag. Just a scumbag! Such operations cannot proceed without the authorization of the country's leader and the commander-in-chief. I say it to you as a president.”

“A scumbag because he runs around Belarus, sends people to us, and, as I've already said, wants us to sign a non-aggression pact, make a deal to avoid any problems between us. But I said in response that we are not going to attack them. ‘No, let's sign an agreement under the aegis of the United Nations Organization with a promise that you will not attack us'. You've heard all my statements about that. And meanwhile… Well, we've been challenged,” Aleksandr Lukashenko stated.

At the same time Aleksandr Lukashenko underlined that Belarus does not intend to get involved in the war: “If they expect us… After all, I know that they want us to get involved in the war upon orders of Americans… If you think that by challenging us you will pull us into the war, which is already going on all over Europe, then you are mistaken.”

“I want to stress it one more time, particularly for the local dirt bags and those, who fled: all of them have been identified, we will find them over there, abroad. And I tell the fugitive opposition once again: get ready, we are already coming for you. And don't cry. Don't post in these messaging apps. Our nerves are strong. We know what needs to be done,” the head of state stated.

Awards for defense, security, and law enforcement personnel

As a result of the counterterrorism operation the president decided to present government awards to the key participants. KGB Chairman Ivan Tertel has been awarded an Order for Service to the Homeland, 1st class. Chairman of the State Border Committee Anatoly Lappo and Internal Affairs Minister Ivan Kubrakov have been awarded an Order for Service to the Homeland, 2nd class.

“I ask you and instruct you to nominate for government awards everyone, who carried out this operation and participated in it. Even if thousands of our guys took part in it. Support them financially if necessary or morally if you like,” Aleksandr Lukashenko said. “These guys must not be forgotten. You've done the unbelievable. It will go down in textbooks. Don't forget about it. We should not forget such people.”