Lukashenko briefs on Belarus’ role in detaining Crocus City Hall attackers

During a media scrum, Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko shared details of his communication with Russian President Vladimir Putin and interaction of special services of the two countries during the manhunt for people that attacked the Moscow concert hall, BelTA reports.

 

Lukashenko was asked whether  Belarus should take additional security measures in the wake of the tragedy in Moscow Oblast. Aleksandr Lukashenko replied that everything is already being done in Belarus to ensure security during mass events. “We send the police there, riot police, and if necessary, they are reinforced with military personnel. Everyone is armed,” the president noted. It is important to observe such a security algorithm. It is just as important to have surveillance cameras at venues. Video surveillance helped track down and identify the car with terrorists near Crocus City Hall.

 

After the tragedy, some media outlets did not rule out the possibility that the terrorists were planning to escape to Belarus through Bryansk Oblast. Aleksandr Lukashenko flatly dismissed these assumptions: “They could not enter Belarus. Their handlers (we have suspicions about some of them, I’ll call Putin and share my suspicions) knew that it would be a very bad idea to try to enter Belarus, because Belarus immediately reinforced security measures, just like a part of the oblast in Russia. In the very first minutes, I received a report from the KGB chief (he is involved in anti-terrorist activities). We put our units on combat alert, including forces of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

 

Checkpoints were set up on roads, including on roads connecting Belarus with Russia; the forces of the KGB, the State Border Committee, and some military units were deployed. “That’s why there was no chance they could enter Belarus. They realized it. So they took a turn and headed to the Ukraine-Russia border,” the head of state said. The operation to detain the perpetrators went very well, the president added.