Media: Russian spies in the United States were betrayed by the Belarusian KGB officer

The “Belarusian track” was found in the spy scandal that erupted between the U.S. and Russia.

A person responsible for the “spy scandal” that broke out this summer between Russia and U.S. is Colonel Poteev of the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) who fled to the United States, and not Colonel Shcherbakov, whose name previously appeared in the media, a source in one of the Russian security services told RIA “Novosti” on Monday.

“The traitor is Colonel Poteev of the central office of the Foreign Intelligence Service, who had fled to the United States this spring” – the interlocutor of the agency said.

Ex-KGB officer of USSR Fedor Yakovlev, commenting the appeared in media materials about the real name of the traitor Colonel of the Foreign Intelligence Service Poteev said to the agency IA “Regnum”:

“Yes, it is really Poteev Alexander Nikolaevich. I’ve known him since January 1979. We were even in the same group together, we studied at KUOS (advanced training of officers), better known as the “School of saboteurs”, as they prepare the staff for the special forces of the KGB. In 1979 we were sent to Afghanistan as members of the KGB SWAT “Zenit”. In 1981 we again crossed with him in Afghanistan in a Kabul group of KGB SWAT "Cascade-2”. After Afghanistan he graduated from the Red Banner Institute and worked in PGU (foreign intelligence) of the KGB of the USSR, then in the SVR.”

Prior to PGU Poteev, according to Yakovlev, served in the KGB of Belarus, he is from Minsk.