Interior Ministry: extremist formation being prepared in Poland, Lithuania to destabilise situation in Belarus

The Main Directorate for Combatting Organised Crime and Corruption (GUBOPiK) of Belarus’ Interior Ministry has received information about the creation of the Pospolite Ruszenie paramilitary extremist formation and its constituent structural units, chorągwi, in Poland and Lithuania, the Interior Ministry reports in its Telegram channel

Yevgeny Piletsky, the Head of the GUBOPiK Department at the Interior Ministry, said the above-mentioned structures – while acting together with the BYPOL extremist formation, the Peramoga mobilisation plan and the United Transitional Cabinet – are working to organise attacks on territorial integrity, sovereignty and foundations of Belarus’ constitutional system and public security. “The formation unites persons who left Belarus after the events of August 2020, including fugitive criminals,” he noted.

According to the Interior Ministry, after training, the formation participants from among fugitive criminals, representatives of diasporas and persons studying abroad plan to return to Belarus under plausible pretexts. They should further form an already trained ‘fifth column’ for conducting sabotage, terrorist and intelligence work. This organisation is planned to be used, among other things, to destabilise the situation inside the country during the electoral campaigns of 2024-2025.

Based on the GUBOPiK materials, investigators have initiated and combined criminal cases for the creation of an extremist formation or participation in it against V.S. Sakhashchik, S.G. Tikhanovskaya, A.A. Azarov, and others. At least 200 people are now being checked in the criminal case.

“Law enforcement officers continue operational work to identify activists and representatives of diasporas involved in extremist initiatives, including through digital traces on the Internet. When these persons return to Belarus, all-embracing measures will be taken to qualify their actions. Nobody will escape responsibility," the Interior Ministry emphasised.