{"id":89595,"date":"2024-06-08T08:36:56","date_gmt":"2024-06-08T05:36:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/89595\/"},"modified":"2024-06-08T08:36:58","modified_gmt":"2024-06-08T05:36:58","slug":"kgb-a-propaganda-mouthpiece-overrated-as-security-agency","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/89595\/","title":{"rendered":"KGB, a propaganda mouthpiece, overrated as security agency"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Committee for State Security (KGB), a pillar of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka’s authoritarian government, is working hard to fight political opponents instead of carrying out its mission to safeguard the country\u2019s security.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n A police truck in front of the KGB office in Minsk\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (tut.by)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

On May 20, the Belarusian ruler promoted unnamed KGB agents at a ceremony attended by KGB Chairman Ivan Tertel.

State television blurred the agents\u2019 faces and would not disclose their jobs or achievements.

Instead, it showed \u0141uka\u0161enka speaking about the need to fight external and internal enemies and Western sabotage groups and prevent armed incursions into Belarus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

KGB suppressing dissent<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After the 2020 postelection crackdown, the law enforcement agencies expanded their influence in the government system. \u0141uka\u0161enka rewards law enforcers with all sorts of benefits for helping him stay in power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The KGB dominates the law enforcement system but faces tight competition from the interior ministry and other agencies.

It is difficult to draw the line between the KGB and police in the fight against political opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Although the KGB’s focus should be on external threats, it engages in political reprisals instead by arresting dissenters and raiding their homes.

In 2021, a KGB officer was shot dead in Minsk in a shootout with IT professional Andrej Zielcer, who legally owned a hunting rifle. Apparently, the KGB was not aware of the rifle, otherwise an elite police unit would be sent to arrest the man.

The KGB regularly claims that it foiled plots by external enemies, but its reports are unconvincing and smack of propaganda. Tertel, the KGB chief, has a reputation as a key propaganda mouthpiece.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n Ivan Tertel\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (sb.by)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at the All-Belarusian People’s Assembly in April, Tertel claimed, without presenting any evidence, that the KGB prevented drone strikes from Lithuania on facilities in Minsk. He also claimed that terrorists were allegedly hiding in hospitals on Bogatyrska Street in Kyiv.

Vilnius dismissed the allegation as a lie, while Kiev urgently evacuated staff and patients from the hospitals mentioned by Tertel, describing the KGB chief’s statement as “provocation by the enemy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spy stories<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian government considers television an essential element of propaganda, so it is not a surprise that the KGB makes full use of it. The agency co-produces films supposedly exposing enemy plots, airs them regularly at prime time and boasts of new brilliant victories over foreign subversive groups.

The KGB makes state television channels drum into the people that gangs infiltrate Belarus mostly from Ukraine to carry out terrorist attacks and acts of sabotage under orders from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

However, the detainees are usually people known as smugglers, anti-social elements or simply young kids, looking more like people easy to manipulate rather than agents of foreign intelligence services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, on May 24, a judge sentenced Vadzim Pacenka and Alaksej Kuliko\u016d to 21 and 23 years in prison on terrorism charges. A state television channel filmed a spy documentary about them titled “Gaspar Did Not Get in Touch.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The television station claimed that they were part of a terrorist cell operating under orders from the Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate and recruited by Daniil Krinari (Kovalevsky), a Russian opposition activist.

The Russian media reported that Krinari, a St. Petersburg-based artist, was arrested in Hrodna together with Pacenka and Kulikov, also a Russian national, and then transferred to Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, Krinari got off with a five-year prison sentence for “cooperation with Ukraine.” If he was a leader of the terrorist cell, as claimed by the KGB, he would be given a longer sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is unclear why his trial was held in Russia, not in Belarus.

Most films about terrorists and foreign spies, broadcast by state television stations, are based on KGB scripts, and some stories are completely fake.

Even though Kyiv is conducting intelligence activities in Belarus, which is quite natural during the war, Ukraine is hardly interested in plotting terrorist attacks that may increase the risk of the Belarusian army entering the war alongside Russia.
Ukraine\u2019s SBU has admitted to involvement in one operation in Belarus, such as the bombing of an A-50 early warning and control aircraft in February 2023.

The plane was targeted because it was a major threat to Ukraine. No one was hurt in the strike, except for the KGB\u2019s reputation.

Minsk kept quiet about the incident for a week, but eventually had to admit the security failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cyberpartisans vs. KGB<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Russian plane bombing was the biggest failure of Belarusian security services, but not the only one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The KGB, always busy composing fake propaganda stories, was caught out by an attack from Cyberpartisans.

In spring, the group hacked the KGB website, and it was down for two months. Soon after, the hackers released a KGB database of denouncements for ten years.

The story came as a bombshell. Because of the KGB security breach, anyone could access 40,000 messages containing personal data of the informers.

Minsk would not comment on the failure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Speaking at a session of the All-Belarusian People\u2019s Assembly in April, KGB chief Tertel claimed that the cyber partisans were preparing an attack on the Belarusian Nuclear Power Plant. The hackers promptly denied it. “We are not planning it and never have, because we are working to save the lives of Belarusians, not to destroy them, unlike the \u0141uka\u0161enka regime,” the group said.

The leaked database was in the media spotlight for quite a while. The opposition even disqualified several candidates from a race for the Coordination Council over messages to the KGB.

Incidentally, the spy agency tried hard but failed to disrupt the Coordination Council election. Law enforcers raided relatives of some candidates in Belarus to discourage voters from taking the survey, but could not foil the online poll.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Window dressing<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing new about law enforcement agencies using the media. There is a special term for such activities, an information-psychological operation (IPSO). Both sides in the Russian-Ukrainian war are using such methods.

Kyrylo Budanov, head of the Ukrainian defense ministry\u2019s Main Intelligence Directorate, holds regular news conferences not only to inform the public but also to influence the public opinion.

Public relations help Kyiv survive in a difficult political environment, for instance, persuade partners to supply arms and give permission for strikes inside Russia.

Ukrainian sabotage groups make forays into Russia, making life difficult for the local security forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A network of informers in the occupied territories helps the SBU eliminate Russian military commanders and high-ranking collaborators.

However, Ukraine does not have hostile intentions towards Belarus. Otherwise, sabotage groups and drones would have attacked it long ago.

IPSOs are effective combined with real operations, but the latter are a major problem for the KGB.

It cannot boast of any significant achievements, except for political reprisals. And even Polish ex-Judge Tomasz Szmydt claimed to be an accidental defector rather than an informer recruited by the KGB.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Also read: KGB seizes patriotic shop owner\u2019s house<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n



<\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Committee for State Security (KGB), a pillar of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka’s authoritarian government, is working hard to fight political opponents instead of carrying out its mission to safeguard the country\u2019s security. On May 20, the Belarusian ruler promoted unnamed KGB agents at a ceremony attended by KGB Chairman Ivan Tertel. State television blurred the agents\u2019 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":53405,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-89595","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nKGB, a propaganda mouthpiece, overrated as security agency | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Committee for State Security (KGB), a pillar of Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka's authoritarian government, is working hard to fight political opponents instead\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/89595\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"KGB, a propaganda mouthpiece, overrated as security agency | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta 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