UA
FR
DEAlexander Lukashenka has stated that Belarusian law enforcement officers have exposed a group of terrorists who “delivered tonnes of weapons” from the territory of Ukraine and was preparing terrorist attacks throughout Belarus.
He spoke about the so-called group of Nikolai Avtukhovich, the members of which were detained on 8 December, BelTA reports.
“We have uncovered all their channels. They were smuggling tonnes of weapons from Ukraine. Terrorist attacks were being prepared across the country, and they have already begun to launch them. This is why they failed. The KGB and police conducted this operation… There are several other groups. They have two or three people, who deliver (weapons) to our country from Ukraine. Now it is very difficult to get here through Poland or Lithuania because the borders are tightly closed. And the border with Ukraine has already been closed. Sometimes they penetrate from Russia since we have no borders,” Lukashenka said.
At the same time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine denied these words.
“Ukraine categorically rejects another insinuation by Alexander Lukashenka. The rhetoric about foreign interference, including the mantra of ‘weapons from Ukraine’ clearly fits into Lukashenka’s policy of intimidating the Belarusian people. Ukraine is not an enemy of Belarus,” a spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Oleg Nikolenko said.
He also noted that Ukraine condemns terrorist attacks in all forms.
To recap, this is not the first time that Lukashenka links protests in Belarus with Ukraine. In September, he called Ukraine an “outpost of political provocations.” Earlier, he mentioned that the provocateurs were entering Belarus from neighbouring countries.
Bohdan Marusyak
