Belarusian intelligence officer sentenced in Ukraine to 10 years for reconnaissance and subversion

The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) reported the information.

"The Security Service has collected evidence against a representative of the Belarusian special service who went to fight against Ukraine as part of the Russian private military company Redut," the press service writes. 

The man is reportedly a resident of the Minsk region. In December 2020, he was enrolled in the 2nd Anti-Terrorist Department of the KGB as a "scout.”

Following the start of the full-scale invasion, he was tasked with conducting reconnaissance and subversive activities against Ukraine and collecting intelligence on samples of weapons of Ukrainian soldiers, provided by Western partners.

"According to his undercover story, he was supposed to act under the guise of a foreign mercenary and transmit the collected intelligence to Minsk through a liaison. To do this, last summer he arrived at a training camp of the Russian PMC, where he underwent operational and combat training under the guidance of Russian special services personnel," the press service adds.

Subsequently, the man was deployed to the eastern front as part of the Russian army. The Belarusian, together with a group of Russian soldiers, took an active part in battles against the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Kharkiv and Kramatorsk directions.

"He tried to reconnoiter plans for the possible participation of Russian PMCs in attempts to remove the current regime of self-proclaimed President Lukashenko from power," the SBU explained.

He was captured by Ukrainian soldiers during a battle in the Donetsk region in September 2022.

The detainee tried to pass himself off as an "ordinary" militant and wanted to conceal his involvement in the Belarusian special services. However, law enforcement received true information from him.

The court sentenced him to 10 years in prison for mercenarism.