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One of them is Tom’s 34-year story in the report. It is true that the authors of the report point out that in this story the name of a Lithuanian citizen and other personal data that identify him have been changed.
“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. From time to time, alone or with his family, he would go to Belarus to rest or buy cheaper fuel and goods. 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, “the report said.
Fateful acquaintance
The curiosities in Tom’s life began when he and several friends went to Belarus at the end of the summer to celebrate the birthday of one of them. “At the Grodno bar, Tom met Jelena, a sympathetic Belarusian who paid special attention to him throughout the night. Intoxicated by alcohol, Tom agreed to go home with the girl. Tom, returning to the hotel in the morning, He was detained by a Belarusian militia officer, asked for identity documents, and implied that he was conducting an investigation into the robbery. 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 questions about Tom’s work and family, and for what purpose he was visiting Belarus, “the story continues.
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. Grigory offered to avoid inconvenience: tell him about his workplace, characterize his co-workers, as well as give him 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. Alexander assured that by helping them, Tomas would not harm Lithuania in any way and could earn extra money.
The hero of this story told a friend about these events and said that he did not 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 help.
Choosing to operate in Belarus
According to security experts, Lithuania is one of the priorities of the Belarusian KGB’s intelligence activities. In Lithuania, there are no favorable conditions for KGB employees to operate under diplomatic cover, which is why the KGB carries out the most active intelligence activities against Lithuanian citizens on the territory of Belarus.
“The KGB is interested in officials, judges and politicians, employees of strategic companies, state institutions and municipalities, and journalists who regularly visit the Republic of Lithuania, the Police of the Republic of Lithuania, the Command Security Service, the State Service Border Guard. The KGB begins to collect information on Lithuanian citizens arriving in Belarus as soon as they apply for a visa, ”the SSD report reads.
The document also notes that in 2020 after the introduction of quarantine in Lithuania and restrictions on the exit of Lithuanian citizens to Belarus, the KGB’s ability to carry out human intelligence from the territory of Belarus was limited.
However, due to Lithuania’s active role in supporting the democratic opposition in Belarus and accusations by the Lukashenko regime of allegedly inciting protests by Lithuania and Poland, intelligence activities are likely to take place in the near future. of the KGB even more aggressive against the citizens of the Republic of Lithuania. .
“The activities of the KGB are not restricted by the principles of human rights and the rule of law operating in Western democracies, so extremely harsh actions can be applied against Lithuanian citizens. When recruiting Lithuanian citizens traveling 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 application of a method called “honey trap “By familiarizing KGB collaborators with close people to establish. The aim of such serious actions is to intimidate Lithuanian citizens so that they can be prosecuted legally and thus force them to cooperate with the Belarusian intelligence service,” warned the organizers of the National Security Threat Assessment.
