MINSK, 1 October (BelTA) – Negative evaluations of actions of Belarusian law enforcement officers that started appearing in mass media, including in Russian ones, after the death of the KGB officer are depressing. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the statement as he met with top officials of the Belarus President Administration on 1 October, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “Tracking the situation in mass media and receiving additional information, I noticed not simply inconsistencies and different evaluations of this event. I am saddened by the behavior of Russians, colleagues in the FSB and officers of antiterrorist organizations. I am sad when these people, who seemingly just like guys from the Belarusian Group A have gone through a lot of trials, start evaluating the work of our special forces as unprofessional in some aspects by focusing on unverified and indirect aspects.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko continued: “I would like all representatives of the brotherly nation to turn back so that they could pay attention to the work of our special forces, Group A for instance, and this guy [Dmitry Fedosyuk], who helped neutralize a group of the private military company Wagner [33 specialists of the private military company Wagner were apprehended near Minsk on 29 July 2020]. I would like them to see how our guys handled 30 specialists, who had gone through more than one war and who didn't manage to put on their pants in time, who didn't even have time to open their eyes and blink. If someone wants to judge our special forces, they should have a look at that.”
The president remarked he knows about the criticism from, for instance, mass media, which say the KGB officers should have worn protective gear, bullet-proof vests during the raid. “It was the first question I asked [the KGB chief Ivan] Tertel when I was told about the incident several minutes later. Why didn't the guys have armor? They can be criticized for it. It was their initiative,” the head of state explained.
In his words, the KGB officers did not want to wear armor so as not to worry the general public, which badly responds to law enforcement officers in full gear. This is why they were wearing plain clothes in the course of verifying operational information. The head of state pointed out that on that day law enforcement and security officers did not carry out some serious special operation. “The guys were sweeping a huge area after previously getting tips about the involvement of certain individuals in terrorism attempts,” he said.
