Minsk: Russian mercenaries forge a terrorist plot

Belarus has accused 33 Russian mercenaries who were detained near Minsk of preparing a terrorist attack in an attempt to destabilize the country ahead of presidential elections.

Some of those detained admitted that they had tried to organize a revolution, and the Russian ambassador was called to explain, officials said.

Belarus claims the mercenaries work for the Russian private military company Wagner, which is linked to President Vladimir Putin and involved in conflicts in Ukraine, Syria and African states. Part of the group that was arrested on Wednesday was fighting against government forces in eastern Ukraine, Belarusian authorities said.

The head of the Belarusian Security Council said they are looking for 200 more Russian mercenaries whom they accuse of being sent to carry out "terrorist attacks". "We are looking for them, but it is like a needle in a haystack," said Andrej Ravkov.

President Alexander Lukashenko (65) publicly accused Russia and the West of trying to interfere in the elections in Belarus. He said last Sunday that mercenaries could be sent to that country to organize a "Maidan", in an allusion to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution, which overthrew then-president Viktor Yanukovych.

The Belarusian leader accuses opponents of trying to topple him with foreign backers and has jailed two of his main election rivals.

The government has not released further details about what kind of attacks are planned, and critics say the alleged mercenaries were arrested en route from Russia to Africa or sent by the Russian government to Lukashenko as a pretext to impose martial law. The opposition fears that Lukashenko will use the alleged conspiracy to intensify the showdown with his rivals.

The election campaign is the biggest challenge in recent years for Lukashenko, who has stifled dissent during his 26 years in power in the country of 9,5 million people, located between Russia and Poland, a member of the European Union.

He is expected to win the election despite growing opposition and protests over the state of the economy, human rights and his handling of the Covid-19 pandemic. He presents himself as a guarantor of economic and political stability. Earlier this week, he said he had an "asymptomatic" form of Covid-19.

"Today you are meeting with a man who got over the coronavirus on his feet," he said during a meeting with the army. Lukashenko rejected the introduction of stronger measures aimed at suppressing the pandemic, dismissing the fear of infection as "psychosis".

Belarusian authorities have said they believe the husband of opposition presidential candidate Svetlana Tikhanovskaya may be connected to a Russian group and have opened a criminal investigation against him on suspicion of inciting riots.

Tikhanovskaya said that neither she nor her husband had anything to do with the alleged plot to destabilize Belarus.

Tikhanovskaya attracted thousands of supporters as she toured the country this Sunday. Another candidate, Viktor Babariko, was arrested on charges of money laundering and banned from participating in the elections. Lukashenko also accused him of having the support of Russia. A third presidential candidate, Valery Tsepkalo, fled with his children to Moscow after he said he learned a warrant had been issued for his arrest.

Belarus' election commission called all presidential candidates to an extraordinary meeting yesterday morning, raising fears that the arrest of mercenaries will be used as an excuse to postpone the August 9 election.

However, officials only announced additional security measures at the rallies. It is believed that this move is directed against Tihanovskaya in particular.

Last night, she addressed tens of thousands of supporters at the biggest rally in Minsk in recent decades.

The authorities are "talking about a revolution". What kind of revolution? We don't need a revolution. We want fair elections," said Tihanovskaya.

Tensions over the arrests risk worsening already strained relations with traditional ally Russia, which has cut economic support to Belarus as it grew disillusioned with peaceful integration between the two countries.

Moscow denies hiring mercenaries. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Moscow is seeking a detailed explanation from Belarus and hopes that their rights will be fully respected.

Those detained were allegedly trained in the Russian cities of Pskov and Nevel and are mostly bombers and snipers, presidential candidate Andrey Dmitriev told reporters after a meeting with Security Council chief Ravkov. The authorities have not ruled out the possibility of suspending Internet access in Belarus, he added.

Mercenaries go to Africa via Minsk

The Russian ambassador to Belarus, Dmitry Mezentsev, said that Russian citizens were wrongly accused and were on their way to a third country.

He denied that they were in any way involved in the internal affairs of Belarus.

"According to information that has not yet been confirmed, the Russians may be employed by a private security company, which... is engaged to guard energy infrastructure and resources abroad, but certainly not in Belarus," Mezentsev said in a statement.

He added that the group was forced to extend their short stay in Belarus because they missed their originally booked flight.

The TASS agency reported that Mezentsev said that the alleged mercenaries planned to travel to Istanbul.

The video of the arrest of the group shows that they have Sudanese currency and a Sudanese phone card, which led some Russian military experts to think that they were going to Africa via Minsk.

Russian mercenaries are using Minsk as a stopover on their way to Africa because Russia has suspended most commercial flights from the country due to the coronavirus, Russian media reported.

Belarus also summoned its ambassador to Ukraine, who said it would seek the extradition of the Russians because 14 of them allegedly fought on the side of pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. Extradition would lead to a major escalation with Russia.