Are They Starting to Get Rid Of Tsertsel?

Who is framing the KGB chairman?

Ivan Tsertsel worked for many years as deputy chairman of the KGB, while being in the shadows. When his dream came true, and he became the head of the department, something happened that he could hardly have expected: the security official immediately became a participant in several scandalous situations.

The udf website tells about the hardest stage in Tsertsel's career, after which it can go down.

The arrest of Babaryka

In early June last year, Lukashenka sent Tsertsel to the State Control Committee. It soon became clear why. The silovik organized the arrest of Viktar Babaryka, who was nominated for the presidency. Tsertsel's explanation became a meme.

“It seems that Babarykais trying to play nobility. We, in turn, know that the puppeteers behind his activities fear that our actions will lead to the receipt of data and confirmation of their involvement in this illegal activity. Such persons are, we know, big bosses in Gazprom, and maybe even higher,” these words of Tsertsel are still remembered to him.

It is unlikely that the silovik himself thought of such an explanation, but his authority within the country and abroad was undermined.

Booing at Naftan

On 17 August last year, Tsertsel came to Naftan, the workers of which announced a strike due to the falsification of the results of the presidential elections. The security official's speech, to put it mildly, did not work out. The workers began booing Tsertsel and shouting "Go away!" to him.

By the way, the security official, following Lukashenka, had radically changed his position by that moment. The authorities announced that now the threat does not come from Russia but from the West.

“The situation in the country is extremely difficult. If we don’t change our minds, there will be a second Ukraine here. Tens of thousands will fall,” Tsertsel tried to scare the workers.

Leaks from the KGB

In September, Lukashenka appointed Tsertsel as the chairman of the KGB, and the security official had to think about how to help him stay in power. For a while, Tsertsel was in the shadows, even though he was included in the sanctions lists since the leading roles were taken by the leaders of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who fought against peaceful protesters in the streets.

And then, a loud scandal broke out. After the death of Raman Bandarenka, the perpetrators of which the authorities have not yet punished, recordings of telephone conversations with the participation of Dzmitry Baskau, Dzmitry Shchakuta, and Natallia Eismant appeared on the network. It followed from them that people from Lukashenka's inner circle drive around the courtyards on dark evenings and cut ribbons.

Tsertsel was probably shocked when he later found out that the records were leaked by a person from his department: Lieutenant Colonel of the KGB Aliaksei Khralovich. State propaganda tried to assure that the telephone tapes were staged, but too many questions remained unanswered to convince the majority.

Obstruction at Hrodna-Azot

It seemed that, after booing at Naftan, Tsertsel would be better prepared for a new performance in front of the workers. But in December, at Hrodna-Azot, he again failed to somehow win over the participants of the meeting.

Instead, Tsertsel set about relaying a propaganda stance that angered the workers. They asked very tough questions. For example, they asked where the Russian "puppeteers" had gone in the Babaryka case.

The story of the "conspiracy»

In the new year, apparently also by Lukashenka's decision, Tsertsel continued to engage in work that is not typical of the head of the special service.

In the "investigation film" of ONT "Kill the President" about the attempted "coup d'etat" shown at the end of April, they sent not just anyone but the chairman of the KGB himself to tell an unusual story.

Literary critic Aliaksandr Fiaduta, head of the Belarusian Popular Front party Ryhor Kastusiou, and lawyer Yury Ziankovich were exposed as dangerous conspirators who could overthrow the current government in Belarus.

Fortunately for Tsertsel, this version was supported by the Russian FSB. But at the same time, within Belarus and in the rest of the world, this story, including his statements, was treated with great skepticism.

... Speaking about the current period of Tsertsel's career, it is difficult to avoid parallels with the biography of the former KGB chairman Stsiapan Sukharenka. On the eve of the 2006 presidential elections, he also spoke with unusual stories: he said that the opposition was preparing militants and terrorist attacks, and also... was planning to poison the water in Minsk with the help of dead rats.

But after a few years, Lukashenka decided to get rid of Sukharenka, who had lost his authority, by sending him as ambassador to Armenia.