Russian Enforcers Interrogate Belarusians On Polish-Russian Border

They are threatening people during interrogations.

The border crossing between Poland and Russia in the Kaliningrad region is popular among Belarusians who go home. Firstly, due to the short queues compared to the Belarusian-Polish border, and secondly, such a route avoids meeting with the border guards of Belarus, and, consequently, inconvenient questions about participation in protests or political views. Those who visited Ukraine and have a mark on their passport have been formally asked about the purpose of their trips, after which they let them without any problems. However, over the past two weeks, in at least two cases, such Belarusians were interrogated with threats. They were required to provide data on familiar Belarusians and Russians who support Ukraine, the "Vot Tak" project learned.

Kaliningrad transit

Kaliningrad is a convenient transport hub for those who want to get from the EU to Belarus. Travelers prefer this route because the border here can be passed several times faster than in Terespol (this is the last active border crossing on the Polish-Belarusian border). Regular flights fly from Kaliningrad to Minsk, and thanks to agreements between Russia and Belarus, passengers no longer need to pass passport control and communicate with Belarusian border guards in the capital of Belarus.

However, recently, reports of closer control began to appear in border chat rooms, in which travelers discuss the situations when crossing the Russian border. Those who have even a minimal relation to Ukraine faced it. Russian border guards pay attention to marks about visiting this country, place of birth and other details connecting travelers with Ukraine. For some of them, a routine trip along the usual route is interrupted by removal from the bus and many hours of interrogation by employees of the Russian special services.

The project managed to talk to several Belarusians who have recently encountered problems when trying to cross the border of the Russian Federation. And this happened both when entering and leaving the territory of Russia.

Aggressive interrogations

"For me, Kaliningrad is the closest and most convenient transit point on the way to Belarus. I travel this route almost every month because of my business. There have never been any problems with my Belarusian passport. The route is extremely simple — by bus [from Poland] across the Russian border, then by plane, and I leave almost at home. I have never had problems with border guards because of my documents," says Ihar [the name of the source has been changed - Ed].

Before the full-scale Russian invasion, he repeatedly visited Ukraine, the last time in 2021. Stamps that Ukrainian border guards put in passport evidence the trips. Previously, they did not cause close interest on the part of the Russian security forces.

"Scrolling through the passport, they always asked me a few questions: for what purpose did I travel, are there any of my relatives in Ukraine? I said that he went to the sea, there were no relatives, that was the end of the interrogation. It seemed that they just had to comply with some formalities. However, this time everything went according to an unusual and not good scenario for me," the man recalls the recent crossing of the Russian border in the direction of Poland.

Looking through Ihar's passport, an employee of the Russian border service put the document aside. Having missed all the passengers of the bus, he invited the man for an additional check in a separate office. Asking him a few questions, the border guard called a colleague in civilian clothes — in appearance and manner of behavior, an employee of the special services. He already conducted the further interrogation, which lasted several hours.

“The FSB officer moved on to threats. It was a sharp contrast to the somewhat phlegmatic and relaxed manner of communication on the part of the border guard. I think he wanted to scare me. After reviewing the notes that he made, flipping through my passport, another employee, he began to say that I was caught, they have some information on me regarding my trips to Ukraine and participation in Belarusian protests. In short, a full house. And in conclusion, he promised to hand me over to the Belarusian KGB," Ihar said.

According to him, he did not take part in the 2020 Belarusian protests, did not speak out about politics online, but the aggressive manner of behavior of the FSB officer and constant threats to hand him over to the Belarusian security forces did their job. When asked to unlock the phone, he quickly agreed. Now Ihar regrets it.

For the next half an hour, the border guard and, probably, the FSB officer looked at the contents in his phone, changed their faces from time to time, pretending to find something serious, and took pictures of the screen. They also asked Ihar about his attitude to Putin, Zelensky and the Russian-Ukrainian war, the source recalls:

"Then, at some point, the FSB officer said to me: that's the end, you're in big trouble, get ready for the basements of the [Belarusian] KGB. He paused, looked at me and said that there is one chance to fix everything: to tell everything I knew about my friends — Belarusians and Russians — who are either joined volunteers, or donated to the AFU, or collected money for drones and other weapons."

In parallel with these questions, the security officer showed some people from the contact list on Ihar's phone and demanded to tell about them. During the many hours of interrogation, the alleged FSB officer was periodically distracted and repeated propaganda stamps about Russia's enemies. In the end, not finding anything serious and not being able to persuade the interlocutor to cooperate, he told Ihar to pack his belongings and get on the next bus. Immediately after that, Ihar went to Poland: he was sure that the only thing that saved him from really big problems was that there was no compromising information on his phone.

Volunteer Hunting

Around the same time, Dzmitry [the name of the source was also changed - Ed.] crossed the Russian border in the Kaliningrad region – another citizen of Belarus, whom the project managed to contact. A man who was traveling to Kaliningrad was also taken to talk with FSB officers. Like many Belarusians, his passport had stamps about visiting Ukraine — before the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukraine was the main tourist destination for citizens of this country. Many of them went to rest by the sea, and residents of border settlements went to Ukraine for shopping.

During the interrogation, Dzmitry was shown photos of two guys — allegedly Belarusians. According to Russian enforcers, they intended to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and were recently detained while trying to go to Poland through Kaliningrad.

“I was directly shown scans of their Belarusian passports. They asked me if I knew them. They demanded that I unlock my phone. As far as I understood, these guys during such a check found evidence that they were going to Ukraine — contacts, correspondence. Judging by what I heard, these were not the only cases in recent times. I do not know how right I am, but I have the impression that the Russian enforcers are beginning to shake the Belarusians very much just after such detentions," Dzmitry said about his experience of crossing the border.

Ukrainian stamp as a black mark

The administrator of one of the border Telegram chats, with whom the project spoke, said that now "security officers" talk with each person who has Ukrainian citizenship, marks in the passport about visiting Ukraine (regardless of the statute of limitations) or born in Ukraine (or even in the Ukrainian SSR). And this applies both to those who enter and leave Russia. This practice, according to the administrator, appeared after the terrorist attack at Crocus City Hall. In such people, the search of personal belongings is often carried out "with addiction", says the administrator of the chat.

Chat participants write that "conversations" easily turn into interrogations, accompanied by the study of the contents of mobile phones and laptops of citizens who aroused suspicion. FSB officers are interested in relatives living in Ukraine, the frequency of communication with them, the native language of the interrogated, the attitude to the war and the Russian authorities. In some cases — but not always — enforcers can threaten or put pressure on travelers.

A similar practice exists on the Polish-Belarusian border. The interlocutors of "Vat Tak", who periodically cross it, also faced increased attention from Belarusian border guards and KGB officers. One of them, a citizen of Belarus, was interrogated for more than an hour because of marks about visiting Ukraine. Another man, who has Ukrainian citizenship and a residence permit in Belarus, was held at the border for several hours, and the car was subjected to a thorough search. He was asked about relatives and friends who are fighting in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, they were interested in the attitude towards Putin and Lukashenka.

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