"Used in the dark": the media called the detention of Russians in Belarus a provocation of the Ukrainian special services

The detention of 33 Russians on the territory of Belarus turned out to be a provocation of the Ukrainian special services. This is reported by the newspaper "Komsomolskaya Pravda" with reference to a source in the Russian special services.

"A comprehensive audit of Russian law enforcement agencies shows that those who decided to earn extra money while guarding abroad ... were simply used in the dark," the KP notes.

According to the information at the disposal of the publication, someone under the name "Sergei Petrovich" "phoned the former ... fighters of the so-called PMC" Wagner "with a tempting offer to work on the protection of oil facilities in Syria." As the newspaper notes, the subscribers' phones displayed the code of the Arab republic, but later it became known that the number was virtual, it was impossible to track its location.

During the calls, as reported by kp.ru, "Sergei Petrovich" was "interested in the combat past" of the subscribers. 

According to the KP, one of the war veterans in Donbass Artyom Milyaev (call sign “Shaman”) “volunteered to help” “Sergei Petrovich” “to recruit a group for“ work abroad ”.

Later, as the KP adds, a man joined the negotiations, who introduced himself as the “security manager of Rosneft,” Sergei Viktorovich Bezinsky, and wrote to “Shaman” from an e-mail, allegedly registered on the domain of the oil company. However, as the publication emphasizes, a person with such data does not appear either in Russia or on the staff of Rosneft. The e-mail address used by “Bezinsky” is also not registered in the Russian Federation and stopped working two days after the Russians were detained, adds kp.ru.

According to the KP, when recruiting people, Artyom Milyaev turned to his friend, a retired lieutenant colonel of the Russian Armed Forces named Krivenko, who began to help him in recruiting, including personally conducting interviews with applicants on WhatsApp. According to the newspaper, the customer needed 90 people - some were found by Krivenko, others - by "Shaman". Once "Sergei Petrovich" personally called Krivenko, and made a favorable impression on him, the article says.

Meanwhile, at the beginning of May, the "customer" asked Milyaev to increase the group by another 90 people. According to the KP, having recruited people, he sent all personal data with photographs and bank card details for calculating salaries to the “address of Rosneft”.

Later, on July 6, “Shaman” allegedly received a message from “Rosneft” about the “death of“ Sergei Petrovich ”in Libya. A few days later, he received a call from a "Venezuelan number" by a new curator who introduced himself as Arthur. The number from which he called is also virtual, like the phone of the previous customer.

"Artur", according to KP, proposed to reorient the work under "Rosneft projects", where 180 people were required, only asked to split them into 5 groups, each of them was assigned its own commander: "Shaman" (Milyaev), "Yurich "(Krivenko)," Sanych "(Belik)," Paradox "(the name of the editorial board is unknown)," Admin "(the name of the editorial board is unknown).

As noted by "Komsomolskaya Pravda", four groups were supposed to go to Minsk on July 24, July 26, August 4 and August 6, and the fifth team, under the command of "Yurich", was to be transferred to Venezuela by sea. The source of the publication also said that for his recruitment services, "Shaman" received $ 14,000, which an unknown man deposited into his account through an ATM.

• © kp.ru

According to the source of the publication, the Milyaev group consisted mainly of persons who previously had Ukrainian citizenship and who took part in the hostilities in the Donbass. The group was also joined by a citizen of Belarus Andrei Bakunovich, who was already in Minsk.

The group's departure from Minsk was scheduled for July 25 and was to take place on the Istanbul - Havana - Caracas route. As stated in the KP article, 10 days before that, Milyaev's e-mail received copies of air tickets for the Turkish airline's flight departing from Minsk on July 25. According to the newspaper, the tickets looked like they were purchased through the website of Must Go, a company registered in Kiev. However, the tickets indicated the details of the travel company Coral Travel.

“But through the office of Turkish Airlines in Moscow, it was established that they were acquired ...“ in an authorized agency registered on the territory of Ukraine, which follows from the response of the Moscow representative office of the Turkish airline, ”says the KP material.

When booking, contact information was indicated in the form of a telephone, which is the number of the Travel Set company, located in Kiev, the newspaper adds. The said firm and its director, a citizen of Ukraine Kalyuzhna Nina Leonidovna, have been identified, the KP notes. “In addition, it was found that the Ukrainian company Easy Travel Ukrains (registered in the city of Lvov) was integrated into the chain of ticket purchasers under the Must go brand,” the Komsomolskaya Pravda article says. Tickets for the Sanych group were also bought by the Ukrainian company Air Life Logistic.

While the Shaman's group was preparing to leave, their tickets to Istanbul were canceled and rebooked for July 30, which the said persons did not know, adds kp.ru. While the group was heading from Moscow to Minsk, reservations for most of its members were canceled on the 30th.

The source of the publication clarifies that on the border with Belarus, the Russians showed their copies of agreements with the RN-Zapad company. At the same time, the tickets were found at the meeting party - a certain citizen of Belarus Gennady Kompan, which was sent to him from the same “address of“ Rosneft ”, and which he printed out at the gas station closest to the border. After that, Kompan took the group to Minsk in two minibuses. The publication notes that the presented contracts and seals were found to be fake.

• © kp.ru

According to the KP, Larisa Nikolaevna Samarina, who introduced herself as “an employee of the Russian embassy in Istanbul”, as well as “a specialist of Rosneft,” was engaged in the placement of Russians in Minsk, which is not true. She also used a virtual phone number. Samarina booked a place for the group in the Belorusochka sanatorium from 24 to 29 July, explaining to the manager that she was accommodating a group of passengers of the postponed flight, which they did not know about.

On July 25, “Shaman” was nevertheless informed of the cancellation of the flight and was ordered to destroy the old air tickets. Thus, the source of the publication notes, important evidence that could indicate the involvement of the Ukrainian special services in the incident was destroyed. It also clarifies that any payments by "curators" were carried out exclusively in cash.

On July 29, the group was detained by the Belarusian special services, as noted by kp.ru, Andrei Bakunovich was detained separately. The KP source expressed the opinion that this "hints that Minsk had a list of" passengers "from Kiev." The Belarusian media reported that 33 people “did not show up for the flight on July 25,” although, as it was indicated, the booking was canceled in advance by a Kiev company.

At the same time, the KP specifies, "Sanych" contacted Samarina, who said that "the curators are solving the problem" and urged to disband the group.

As noted in the KP article, immediately after the arrest, the lists of the detainees were transferred to the Ukrainian embassy in Minsk, after which 12 people from the Shaman's group were added to the Myrotvorets database, where 16 more citizens were already indicated. The source of "Komsomolskaya Pravda" suggested that the Belarusian special services were already in close contact with the Ukrainian ones, having received information from them about the arrival of the group.

Thus, the newspaper notes, "the Ukrainian special services managed to create a fake project," which involved 180 Russian citizens. Materials on the special operation have been transferred to the Investigative Committee, the KP reports.

As an employee of the competent department noted on the air of the Russia 24 TV channel, it has been reliably established that 33 citizens of the Russian Federation who arrived in Belarus were sure that in the future they would leave Minsk for Istanbul.

“The organizers of this action are located on the territory of Ukraine, as evidenced by booking tickets from Kiev, rebooking, canceling a reservation, purchasing virtual sim cards, paying for these purchases, everything happened from the territory of Ukraine. The purpose of this special operation of the Ukrainian special services, we believe, was the withdrawal of Russian citizens to the territory of Belarus and the formation of the Belarusian side's opinion that they had arrived in Minsk to participate in the riots during the presidential elections, ”said an employee of the competent department.