MINSK, 20 February (BelTA) – Extremism and terrorism in all forms have become one of the most dangerous problems and have become a real threat to national security, Belarusian Minister of Internal Affairs Ivan Kubrakov said at a large meeting convened by President Aleksandr Lukashenko with the senior staff of the national security agencies in Minsk on 20 February, BelTA has learned.
"After the start of the special military operation, propaganda centers, including call centers operating on the territory of Ukraine have stepped up their activities. This resulted in an increase in the number of attempts to destabilize the work of state bodies through false mining reports and to defraud Belarusians," the minister stressed. “The Ministry of Internal Affairs, in cooperation with other state bodies, immediately responds to such threats. We have attracted more highly-qualified personnel with knowledge in the field of information technology to deal with these threats."
The minister noted that destructive activities have moved from streets to the internet. "Extremist activities have radicalized and resulted in the preparation and organization of terrorist acts. We see such activities and we react," Ivan Kubrakov said.
"Working proactively, we prevented four terrorist acts against critical infrastructure facilities on the territory of Belarus and Russia last year. The customers of these acts were the services of Ukraine," the minister said. “As part of the effort to counter extremism, this year the leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Main Directorate of Internal Affairs, and the Departments of Internal Affairs visited the largest enterprises, organizations and educational institutions where we see risks of involving citizens in extremist activities. All those who are inclined to extremist activity are kept an eye on."
Ivan Kubrakov noted that the national system of monitoring public security is an effective tool for ensuring the national security. "The facilities hosting the polling stations have been equipped with video surveillance, including the use of a monitoring system," the minister stressed.
