Ukraine War Day #408: Belorussia A Nest Of Spies [continued]

“Full freedom will come only when it makes no difference whether to live or not to live. That’s the goal for everyone.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky, “Little Demons”

Dear Readers:

Today continuing (and concluding) my review of this piece by reporter Andrei Rezchikov. We learned that the Belorussian KGB have been very busy beavers rounding up spies and cracking potential terror cells. Where we left off: We are listening to the opinions of an analyst named Alexander Alesin, who attempts to make sense of all this buzzing activity. He draws a connection between what is happening now, and the events of 2020, when a certain part of the Russian “creative class” took to the streets in still another (yawn) attempt to overthrow Putin. Their attempts failed, as they always do. But after their defeat, many of the protestors sort of “went underground”, just quietly waiting for their next opportunity to act. That opportunity came with the SMO, and the possibility of declaring their allegiance to the Zelensky government. These people desperately want Ukraine to win the war, in the belief (probably correct) that such a military defeat for Russia would lead to the removal of Putin and the dismembering of the Russian Federation. So, that’s the motive of these actors, as Stanislavski might say. It’s a clear one, and it’s not necessary a “mad” one (unlike the madness of, say, Dostoevsky’s character Stavrogin, whose life goals are physically not achievable).

“But… but… They promised me $10,000 dollars!”

Ukrainian secret services, for their part (assisted by Polish secret services), went on a recruitment drive to enlist this type of person into their terror cell network. Promising them money and a new life in the West.

So, that’s the setup, and now we continue to set up the scene and the basic rules of the genre. In this story, Belorussia plays the role once played by Vienna, say, in the era of the novel/movie The Third Man: At the very crossroads of the Cold War and teeming with spies of all colors and stripes.

One also needs to understand that the Belorussian government, under Lukashenko, is as firm an ally of Russia as Russia ever had. It didn’t start out that way, and it didn’t even have to be that way. Lukashenko might have remained neutral in this new Cold War, if the U.S. had not attempted to overthrow him and kill his beloved son. Actions have consequences, as we learned in kindergarten.

Alesin: Belorussia presents a fertile base for recruiting secret agents and terrorist-diversionaries. “The Belorussian special services understand this and are taking significant measures to expose and cut off the base for terrorist activity. But [no matter what it does] Belorussia will remain a subject of interest of the special services of Ukraine, Poland, and the NATO countries, including the USA. That’s because of its very important strategic location.”

Lukashenko Father and Son: Refused to follow the fate of Gaddafi and his sons.

Next we hear the opinions of another analyst, named Alexander Mikhailov. He is a retired Major-General of the Russian FSB [successor to the dreaded Soviet KGB] and serves on the Council for Defense Policies: “Ukrainian Military Intelligence and the SBU [also successor to the dreaded Soviet KGB] are betting on those people who, in some manner, have revealed themselves as having a negative attitude about their own government. We have already seen evidence of that on the territory of the Russian Federation. The woman who is suspected of assassinating Vladlen Tatarsky used to participate in unsanctioned protests. As for the Ukrainian secret services themselves, they are completely reprehensible when it comes to protecting their own agents. They regard these people as nothing more than chopped meat, and risk their lives at every turn. Those who are recruited by them needed to understand that they are regarded as spare change, completely expendable. But their own [Ukrainian] agents, those they care for, and only risk sending them over here when absolutely necessary.”

Orson Welles in “The Third Man”: the job of a spy is to wear a bowler hat and lurk in the dark.

Alesin again: “Belorussia is Russia’s outpost and, in the case of necessity, the Platzdarm from which both warning shots and retaliatory strikes will be fired in NATO’s general direction. Using all modes of weapons, up to and including, tactical nukes. In this connection, I expect the Ukrainian and Western secret services to continue with their attempts to recruit Belorussians.”

Alesin gives a special shout-out to the Polish secret services. Taking into account the common border between Poland and Belorussia.

With neighbors like these … who needs enemies?

And tis a very busy border, with much truck and automobile traffic hither and thither. “We recall the story of the terrorist who tried to blow up a Russian A-50 plane in the Machulishchi Military aerodrome. In his first attempt he crossed over from the Polish border. He was working for the Ukrainian secret services, but the Poles helped him to get across the border. The border with Lithuania and Latvia is also very dangerous. No doubt the Ukrainian secret services will use this border as well.”

And speaking of the “Baltic Corridor”, that is precisely what Darya Dugina’s assassin used last August, as her escape route after murdering Darya in Moscow.

Alesin concludes by noting the very close cooperation in place between the Russian and Belorussian secret services, as they work together and share information to thwart future terror attacks.