Explosion at an airfield in Belarus: are further crackdowns connected with it?
After the explosion at the Machulishchi airfield, the Belarusian security forces are studying the connections of people who previously fell into their field of vision. Mikhail Bedunkevich, deputy head of the General Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption (GUBOPiK), stated this on the air of the state television channel STV on March 19. According to him, we are talking about people who “may have agreed to carry out certain tasks, may be members of hidden cells for interaction with foreign decision-making centers”. The department does not rule out that citizens of Belarus may receive “tasks” from abroad related to “extremist and terrorist activities” or “carrying out acts of sabotage, terrorist acts”.
Two days earlier, the press service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs stated that GUBOPiK carries out up to 20 searches a day. Last week, more than 100 people were brought to administrative responsibility, more than 20 criminal cases were initiated “against people who committed extremist crimes”. Was the explosion at the Machulishchi airfield the occasion for a new wave of repressions in Belarus?
Who was arrested after the explosion in Machulishchi
Explosions at the Belarusian military airfield in Machulishchi, near Minsk, occurred in the morning of 26 February. The association of former Belarusian security officials BYPOL reported that as a result of the sabotage, a Russian A-50 military early warning and control aircraft (AWACS), used to guide missiles against targets in Ukraine, was seriously damaged. A few days later, on March 3, it became known that the aircraft had flown to a repair plant in Taganrog. BYPOL also claimed that the sabotage was committed by Belarusian partisans and that all those involved left the territory of the Republic of Belarus.
Belarusian authorities denied the incident in the early days, however, a wave of mass searches and arrests swept the country. In early March, the human rights center in Viasna reported that the KGB was conducting searches and arresting people who were persecuted under political and administrative articles from 2020 to 2023.
Later it became known about the arrests and interrogations in Minsk of sports shooters, airsoft players and reenactors. According to human rights activists, law enforcement officials tried to find out whether the detainees knew a man named Yakutik. In mid-March, the White Coats Telegram channel reported the arrest of at least 20 psychologists and psychotherapists, who were forced to provide information about “unreliable” patients.
Authorities version
On 7 March, Belarusian authorities announced that those responsible for the “incident” had been detained. Alexander Lukashenko said security forces had detained more than 20 people on suspicion of blowing up a Russian A-50 reconnaissance plane at Machulishchi airfield. According to him, the main suspect is a native of Krivoy Rog who lived in Crimea with citizenship of Russia and Ukraine, who was “recruited by the special services of Ukraine.” It was about 30-year-old Nikolai Shvets, the video of his detention and interrogation was published by pro-government media and telegram channels.
On March 8 and 9, the state television channel ONT broadcast reports on the “organization” of the sabotage, the “author” and the “accomplices”. They reported that Shvets was recruited by the SBU, he arrived in Belarus from Russia. Belarusians Vitaly Yakutik and Mikhail Demin, who allegedly helped Shvets with drones and equipment for sabotage, were appointed assistants to him. Ukrainian Alla Yatsuta was supposed to evacuate him from the Republic of Belarus, and when that failed, psychotherapist Yevgenia Tochitskaya helped him find asylum in Minsk, the story’s authors claimed. Currently, some of these people, in particular Tochitskaya, are abroad.
Are the detainees linked to BYPOL?
BYPOL head Alexander Azarov, in conversation with DW, said that Mykola Shvets had nothing to do with the sabotage, for which the association of former security officers had already claimed responsibility. “This person is not familiar to us, we stated and continue to declare that the artists left and are abroad. It is not yet clear whether they will give information to the press, so far we have not resolved this issue with them, ” said Azarov.
He does not rule out that the incident in Machulishchi could become a reason to intensify the crackdowns, but he believes that the crackdowns would have continued even if there had been no explosion. “The security forces have to show results, open new cases, more and more. It cannot be said that we have brought all the ‘extremists’ to justice – it is necessary to show that this month there are five more people than in the past.” If there are none, they will be invented and named,” says Azarov.
The security forces did not expect that a protest movement would remain in Belarus and “it made them very angry”, the head of BYPOL is sure. “They thought that there were no partisans, everyone was “sitting under the pedestal”, as Karpenkov said (Nikolai Karpenkov is the former head of GUBOPik, now deputy minister of internal affairs – Ed.), and then it turned out that still there are partisans in Belarus and they are ready to fight That’s why they went to “clean”, – says Azarov.
Why are members of certain groups being detained?
The head of BYPOL calls the arrest of representatives of a sphere or profession “a propaganda move to intimidate people”, since such repressive measures have greater resonance.
The human rights center in Viasna, for its part, says that for many years there has been a “fashion” in law enforcement agencies to detain certain articles or certain groups of people. At one time, they were “social media commentators, people who donated to funds to support political prisoners, family members of political prisoners, people who were photographed during protests or who complained about beatings at the police station”.
“Recently, a department emerged in GUBOPiK that deals exclusively with the persecution of people on TikTok. So, the police are following the plan”, explain the human rights activists. They associate the intensification of repression and the increase in the number of arrests with the explosion in Machulishchi. According to “Viasna”, arrests are taking place in all regions, many appeals come from Minsk and Gomel, Mogilev regions.
“The reason for the current crackdowns is exactly the same as in 2020 – the desire to demonstrate that any disagreement with the actions of the Lukashenka government entails imprisonment,” said Mikhail Kirilyuk, legal adviser for legal matters at the People’s Anti-Crisis Administration. (SHIP). According to him, despite arrests and emigration from Belarus, hundreds of thousands of people remained in the country against Lukashenka, which means that arrests will continue.
“I don’t think it will be any easier for an innocent person who was arrested to find out that this happened because a plane exploded in Machulishchi. The overall reason is that he was arrested because Lukashenka is in power, and until that changes, he will arrest people who, at least least from a distance, at least half a percent, they look like someone who can threaten their power”, summarizes the lawyer.
Source: DW
Anna White is a journalist at 247 News Reel, where she writes on world news and current events. She is known for her insightful analysis and compelling storytelling. Anna’s articles have been widely read and shared, earning her a reputation as a talented and respected journalist. She delivers in-depth and accurate understanding of the world’s most pressing issues.