Lukashenka: I Was Aware Of Neutralization Of Ukrainian Spy Network From Very Start

There’s no Moscow trace in this case.

Lukashenka has revealed the details of the Belarusian-Ukrainian spy scandal in a conversation with the journalists during his working visit to Homel region today. According to the dictator, the parties agreed to keep the lid on the case but Ukraine broke the agreement first, tut.by reports.

The current situation was discussed with Ukrainian resident Petro Poroshenko during their meeting in the United Arab Emirates earlier in November this year, Lukashenka claims.

“He (Poroshenko – edit.) posed the question, and I showed him the facts. I admitted my being aware of the operation on neutralize the spy network since its first days. It is typical — the KGB chief immediately reported the case to me,” — Lukashenka informed.

Lukashenka added that, during the meeting with Petro Poroshenko in the UAE, the parties agreed to keep the lid on the case, but the Ukrainian side broke its promise.

“They kicked up a fuss and everything got leaked to the press. what on earth was I to do? I cancelled my decision and sanctioned furnishing media outlets with some information so that people could see that we were not trying to whip up tension with Ukraine. We showed what we had. This man confessed where he had worked and how. We have a pile of additional materials. I don’t know who needed this scandal and why. They broke our agreement,” — Lukashenka said.

Herein, he warned the journalists against looking for any “Moscow trace” in the case, as there is none.

Regarding the persons involved in this case, Belarus acts exclusively in accordance with the legislation, the state leader summed up. “I understand this Colonel who worked undercover as a journalist. Many countries act like this — intelligence officers work under the guise of journalists, diplomats. I came across such facts many times. But what should we think about a Belarusian citizen who worked for a foreign intelligence service, even if it is not completely unfamiliar to us, for a song?”— Lukashenka said.

On October 25, the KGB of Belarus reported the detention of Pavlo Sharoiko, the trained intelligence officer of the Chief Intelligence Bureau at the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. According to the KGB, Pavlo Sharoiko created in Belarus an espionage ring consisting of the citizens of Belarus, who fulfilled his instructions on collection of information of the intelligence character in the military-political sphere, on a fee basis.A criminal case was initiated against Pavlo Sharoiko under Article 358 of the Criminal Code of Belarus (“Espionage”) and a decision was made to apply a preventive measure in the form of detention.

Pavlo Sharoiko told that his intelligence activities were coordinated by officer of the Chief Bureau of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Ihor Skvortsov, who acted under the cover of the advisor at Ukraine’s Embassy to Belarus. For the activities not compatible with the diplomatic status Ihor Skvortsov was announced a persona non grata.