BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

16/07/2007

Belarus arrests alleged spies

Source: Agencies

Belarus accuses Poland of interfering in its affairs

Belarus says it has smashed a spy ring which allegedly passed secret information to Poland about joint Belarusian-Russian air defense systems.

Four former Belarusian army officers and a Russian officer had been arrested in connection to the case, according to the head of the Belarus KGB security service Viktor Vegera, who described the team as "the largest spy network in recent years."

Vegera said the men were particularly interested in gathering information about anti-aircraft missile systems S-300 adding that their espionage activities were "fully proven."

The alleged ringleader, former Belarus officer Vladimir Russkin, confessed in a program aired from a Belarusian TV channel that he was recruited by Polish intelligence and was later joined by four other officers who had access to classified information.

Vegera said criminal cases had been submitted to court, but "no damage was inflicted to the defense capacity of Belarus and Russia."

The suspects face prison terms from seven to 15 years if convicted.

No immediate confirmation or comments have been reported from the Polish embassy in Belarusian capital Minsk.

Source:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=16628§ionid=351020606

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