In Ukraine, called the reasons for the failure of the operation to detain the "Wagnerians"
This happened because of the betrayal in the highest circles of the Ukrainian government. According to a man who introduced himself as an employee of the Ukrainian special services, Kiev lured Russians who fought in the Donbass
RBC – Mikhail Kotlar – Oct 12, 2020
Behind the detention in Belarus of 33 Russians, who were considered fighters of the Wagner PMC, is Ukrainian intelligence. Their task was to lure to Ukraine “militants” who took part in hostilities in the Donbass, but the operation failed. This was on the air of the TV channel “Direct” told a representative of the special services under the pseudonym Bogdan.
According to him, the idea to lure “Russian mercenaries” to Ukraine arose among the operatives of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense. To do this, the special services decided to recruit a group of Russians to work allegedly in Venezuela. To avoid suspicion, the group accepted not only participants in the hostilities in the Donbass.
According to Bogdan, the special services had everything ready for the plane with the Russians to land near Kiev. “Everything was ready in advance. They would land at Boryspil airport on a plane, and they did not have to wait for a while to understand what to show them at all. Additional levers were used, and the plane would land 100%,” the source said.
The departure of Russian citizens from Belarus was scheduled for July 24. However, at a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the same day, the head of his office, Andriy Yermak, proposed to postpone the operation to July 30 because of the truce in the Donbass that was established the day before.
As a result, Ukrainian intelligence, according to Bogdan, was forced to buy new tickets for the Wagnerites and settle them in a sanatorium near Minsk. But the day before their departure, the Russians were detained by the KGB of Belarus.
The interlocutor of the TV channel said that the failure of the operation is associated with betrayal in the highest circles of power. “We have a “rat” sitting on the highest leadership of the state. Such a huge “rat”, obviously with the ability to call someone there and say about it, “said Bogdan. He added that after such an outcome of the operation, a “cleansing” began in the personnel of the Ukrainian special services – they were dismissed, and then criminal cases were initiated.
As obozrevatel reported in August, the agent of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau, Yevhen Shevchenko, stated that the head of the president’s office, Andriy Yermak, was involved in disrupting the operation to detain the Wagnerites. The same was reported by journalist Yuri Butusov.
On August 19, the Security Service of Ukraine in the Telegram channel denied information about the participation of intelligence in the operation to “lure The Russians”. However, after the opening of criminal proceedings, the SBU confirmed at the trial that it had collected evidence on the Russians before their detention in Belarus.
33 Russians were detained in Belarus on July 29. Initially, the KGB of the republic called them mercenaries from the private military company Wagner and accused them of preparing provocations before the presidential elections. Kiev said some of the Russians were suspected of terrorist activities in Ukraine and demanded their extradition. However, on August 14, Minsk dropped all charges against the detainees and handed them over to Russia.
In late August, President Vladimir Putin said that the Russians were “used in the dark”, luring them to Belarus. According to him, Ukrainian and American special services are behind the operation.
