Who Shot and What Was Caught on the Video: Deutsche Welle Spoke about the Fatal Incident in Minsk

Where did the recording made by Andrei Zeltser's wife go?

The shooting incident in Minsk, as a result of which two 31-year-old residents of Minsk - a KGB officer and an employee of an IT company - were killed, should lead to a rethinking of what is happening in the country, experts say.

Deutsche Welle tells what is known about the incident, what questions were raised by the video of the incident, and how Belarus reacted to it.

What happened in Minsk?

Information about the incident appeared on Tuesday, September 28th after 19.00 in the pro-government telegram channels: during a search, a Minsker shot a KGB officer. The security forces shot the man in response. On the video, which appeared in the state media, it is noticeable that the incident occurred during the day: it was light outside the window of the apartment where the search had been carried out.

As the Investigative Committee of Belarus later reported, on September 28, state security officials carried out "special measures to work out addresses in which persons involved in terrorist activities could be located." The Minsk resident refused to open the door to the apartment, and it was broken into. "The man opened fire from a hunting rifle towards the law enforcement officers. As a result, one of them was injured and died in hospital," the IC said.

The Prosecutor General's Office confirms that the Minsk resident "was reasonably suspected of committing especially dangerous crimes related to terrorism." The search was authorized by the Deputy Prosecutor General, and the man fired twice with a gun.

What's on the video?

Following the news, a video of the incident appeared on the pro-government telegram channels - it was replicated by both state and independent media in Belarus.

The video was edited from videos taken from different cameras. One is filming inside the apartment, the recording shows a man with a gun - from the back and from the side. Another camera shows KGB officers breaking the door, running into the apartment, the moment of shooting, and the officer after he was shot.

The search was carried out by at least six people, all dressed in civilian clothes

The video from the "home" camera shows that the man is not alone in the apartment. Sometimes a woman appears in the frame, who also records what is happening on the phone, but her frames are not in the video.

Judging by the video, at least six people, all dressed in civilian clothes, came to search the apartment and introduced themselves as police: "Open quickly, otherwise we will break the door."

The break-in takes up most of the 50-second clip. The first to enter the apartment is a KGB officer in a dark jacket, followed by a man in a light one. Then a shot from a gun is shown. Who is holding it is not recorded in the video, but it is noticeable that the shot is taken in the room. An employee in a light-colored jacket is seen firing from the hallway. Next is a shot showing that the man in the dark jacket is wounded.

What is known about the people in the video?

The video did not cover the face of the man with the gun, and he was quickly identified by the media. This is 31-year-old programmer Andrei Zeltser, he worked in the largest IT company in Belarus. Judging by his Instagram page, he was fond of triathlon, fencing, supported the protests. The media learned that he was a member of the hunting and fishing community. He was not detained for participation in rallies.

He lived in the apartment with his wife, she flashes on the video. He was raising a son, a student of elementary grades. Natallia, the mother-in-law of Andrei Zeltser, told Nasha Niva that her family found out about the incident when they called from the gymnasium with a request to pick up their grandson.

Andrei's wife works as a salesman. The Investigative Committee reported that the woman was detained on suspicion of complicity in the murder of a KGB officer: "She was filming the crime and assisted in its commission."

The deceased KGB officer was of the same age as the shooter - he was also 31 years old, he had a wife and a small child. According to the ByPol initiative, which includes the retired security officials, the deceased was a member of the Alpha special squad and was engaged in martial arts.

What questions were raised by the video?

Alexander Azarov, a ByPol representative and ex-head of the GUBOPiK department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, draws attention to the fact that the video does not show who exactly shoots the gun: "If the camera was aimed at the man, why not show that he is shooting?" He notes that the firing gun was filmed separately. And, at this point, the curtains on the window are open, but in the footage of the man standing with the gun, they are closed. Azarov asks the question: where is the video, which was shot by Zeltser's wife? From her perspective, the moment of the shot would have been better seen.

Another point that raises questions is the civilian clothes of the KGB officers, who, according to official sources, came with a search in a terrorism case.

"If real terrorists are detained, then the employees must be equipped in special clothing with the inscription "Alpha," bulletproof vests, helmets. The person walking in front would go in with a shield. And the officers would have not only pistols but also rifles. They (members of the law enforcement agencies. - ed.) have been breaking down everyone's doors for a year and have not encountered any resistance. They call people terrorists, but, in reality, they don't consider them terrorists and walk around without uniforms," says a representative of ByPol.

In his opinion, it was the usual "working off the address where the person who was noticed in some protest movements lived. They came, hoping that they would break down the door, put him on the floor, and film it for propaganda channels, where the detainees repent in front of the camera."

Azarov believes that an operative, who was supposed to establish that the person is a hunter and there could be a weapon in his apartment, could be punished: "If they knew there was a gun, they would not have entered."

What do independent experts say?

Meanwhile, independent experts are talking about what the incident means to a society in which today the law is not observed and there is no opportunity for dialogue. "The more tightly you try to close the boiling cauldron with a lid, the higher the likelihood of an explosion. Violence breeds violence. The banality of common truths does not negate their effectiveness. We gain new experience at a terrible cost, the most expensive in our value system. Condolences to family and friends," sociologist Oksana Shelest wrote on Facebook.

"Can a society normally exist in conditions not only of total terror but also of general psychological deterioration? Can the special services control and predict the actions of 9 million people? These are rhetorical questions. So far, yesterday's incident showed that they were unable to predict the actions of one - who was suspected of terrorism and about whom they should have known that he had a weapon in his apartment. I really want to sympathize with the victims and their families. What happened is a tragedy: Belarusians started shooting at each other in the “Year of National Unity.” This should not be so. Now, everyone should conduct their own rethinking and reassessment of what has happened. If this is not done, the chaos will only grow," political commentator Pyotr Kuznetsov said.