Belarusian KGB trap: sympathetic girl listened to Lithuanian, then blackmail started

Although Russia still represents the greatest threat to Lithuania, the assessment of threats to national security annually emphasizes the role of the Belarusian intelligence service, which retained its Soviet name – the KGB. According to SSD and AOTD reporters, the KGB is becoming more aggressive and uses classical methods. According to the authors of the report, a Lithuanian citizen also fell into one of them: the so-called “honey trap”.

Neighbor intelligence is getting more aggressive

Lithuania is only one of the priorities of the Belarusian KGB intelligence activities and there are no particularly favorable conditions for KGB employees to operate under diplomatic cover; after last fall’s diplomatic crisis, Lithuania and Belarus exchanged retreats of ambassadors and diplomatic personnel.

However, the KGB actively carries out intelligence activities against Lithuanian citizens on its territory: according to the SSD and the AOTD, the KGB is particularly interested in the regular officers of the Lithuanian Police, the Command Security Service, the State Border Guard Service, judges and politicians. , strategic companies, state institutions and municipal employees, journalists.

The KGB begins collecting information on Lithuanian citizens arriving in Belarus as soon as they apply for a visa. 2020 After the introduction of quarantine in Lithuania and restrictions on the exit of Lithuanian citizens to Belarus, the ability of the KGB to carry out human intelligence from the territory of Belarus was limited. However, the limited capabilities of the Belarusian regime are outweighed by the aggressiveness of the regime.

“When recruiting Lithuanian citizens to Belarus, the KGB does not shy away from blackmail, the use of compromising information, the organization or exploitation of car accidents, violations of laws, visa regulations, border crossing procedures and the applying a method called “sweetie cheating” when introducing KGB collaborators to get intimate in order to establish a relationship.

The purpose of such serious actions is to intimidate Lithuanian citizens so that they can be prosecuted legally and thus compel them to cooperate with the Belarusian Intelligence Service, ”noted the National Security Threat Assessment, noting that cooperation and information exchange with.

Despite the hostile presidential rhetoric of the Belarusian president towards Russia, Belarus remains an important platform for Russian intelligence against Lithuania. After the presidential elections in Belarus, cooperation between the intelligence services of the two countries intensified.

They are likely to exchange information on the situation in the region, and Russian intelligence services are providing support to Belarus, helping to identify and discredit opposition and protest activists as allegedly controlled from abroad.

A typical case of “honey trap”

“Tomas, 34, has a family and works as a maintenance specialist for one of the databases of the Lithuanian state institutions, which collects data on the Lithuanian population”, begins the story of a typical recruitment case by changing the name Lithuanian.

It is said that Thomas occasionally went to Belarus alone or with his family to relax or buy cheaper fuel and goods. These details show that the KGB was able to collect a lot of detailed information about Tom as a “juicy” target: he was a frequent visitor, his travels were motivated at least in part by financial considerations, and his work was related to intelligence matters. activities – databases.

Tom booked a visa for Belarus at travel agencies and at the Belarusian consulate in Vilnius. While crossing the Medininkai-Kamenij Log border checkpoint, Belarusian border officials repeatedly took X-rays of Tom’s car and asked if he was using drugs.

Tom did not value border controls. At the end of the summer, Tom and several friends went to Belarus to celebrate the birthday of one of them. At the Grodno bar, Tom met Jelena, an understanding Belarusian who paid special attention to him throughout the night. What happened next is silent in the story, but it is understood between the lines.

“Tom, intoxicated by alcohol, agreed with the girl to go to her house. In the morning, Tom, who was returning to the hotel, was detained by an officer of the Belarusian militia, asked him for identity documents and hinted that he was carrying out an investigation into the theft.

Soon a person in civilian clothes approached them and ordered them to sit in a nearby car with another person in it. The men, who introduced themselves to Alexander and Grigory, began asking about Tom’s work and family, asking why he was visiting Belarus.

The men explained that a Belarusian citizen had been mugged at night and that Tom was suspected of having committed the crime. When Tom asked to be allowed to call the Lithuanian diplomatic mission in Belarus, Alexander showed the compromising photos of Tom taken in Jelena’s apartment and threatened to pass them on to his wife “, the SSD and AOTD describe the classic case of the” trap of honey. ”” Such a methodology was favored by the Soviet KGB during the Cold War and, despite warnings from Western intelligence services, tens and hundreds of various civil, military and political officials fell into the traps of the KGB.

Who has a happy ending?

The following story is told as if it were a classic recruitment case. Grigory allegedly suggested that Tom avoid inconvenience: tell him about his workplace, characterize his co-workers, and pass on a copy of the population database. It was explained to Tom that during his next visit to Belarus, the men would contact him with a mobile chat app.

Such a task is a typical part of intelligence recruiting procedures: first the victim is surprised, because it is not known what might end, perhaps imprisonment or kidnapping, and then a seemingly easy and innocent solution is offered.

“Alexander assured that by helping them, Tomas would not harm Lithuania in any way and could earn extra money,” the SSD and AOTD document noted. The authenticity of this story can only be verified if Thomas himself or his relatives, acquaintances, witnesses or even more Lithuanian explorers, who would provide more details, told them. Even more so because the end of the story is not a long, dramatic spy story, but a quick, cheerful and instructive moral.

“Tom told a friend about these events and he said he didn’t want to work for those people. A friend who had heard of similar recruitment cases advised him to immediately contact the Lithuanian intelligence services. After returning to Lithuania, Tomas contacted Lithuanian intelligence by email, reported the incident in Belarus and received assistance, ”the document states.

The more this story ended for Tom and what the Lithuanian and Belarusian explorers managed to reveal is not revealed, but such a story, even if partially revealed, should show that Tom’s subsequent career as a possible traitor was impeded.