Internal troops learn from Soviet secret police experience – commander

July 14, BPN. Deputy Interior Minister Mikałaj Karpiankoŭ, who leads the internal troops, has said his special units are following the example of the Soviet secret police, the NKVD.

They are trying to learn from the NKVD’s “unique and rich experience” in hunting down saboteurs and collaborators in the forests of Belarus during World War II, he said.

Karpiankoŭ made the remarks while inspecting the Buran unit in Homiel, according to the region’s executive committee.

The internal troops were used by the Belarusian authorities to crack down on mass protests that erupted after a disputed presidential election in 2020.

The NKVD played a major role in the mass killings of political prisoners and other perceived enemies of the Soviet regime in Belarus, historians say.