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114-515: A connection between Dr. Hass and the West German intelligence was killed at an airport in one of the European countries. Encryption was discovered in the pocket of the murdered person for the purchase of raw material for mass production of RH gas. The possibilities of gas are such that in small doses it stimulates the intellectual potential of a person, in large ones it turns them into a joyous idiot and

228-565: A legal resident gathered intelligence while based at the Soviet embassy or consulate, and, if caught, was protected from prosecution by diplomatic immunity . At worst, the compromised spy was either returned to the Soviet Union or was declared persona non grata and expelled by the government of the target country. The illegal resident spied, unprotected by diplomatic immunity, and worked independently of Soviet diplomatic and trade missions, ( cf.

342-566: A "friend of the cause" or as agents provocateurs , who would infiltrate the target group to sow dissension, influence policy, and arrange kidnappings and assassinations . Source: Belarus in Europe  (dark grey)  –  [ Legend ] Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus , is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe . It is bordered by Russia to

456-576: A 30-year contract with him soon after. The centre then realized that it was better for them to deal with a more competent agent, which at the time was Babrak Karmal , who later accused Taraki of taking bribes and even of having secretly contacted the United States embassy in Kabul. On that, the centre again refused to listen and instructed him to take a position in the Kabul residency by 1974. On 30 April 1978, Taraki, despite being cut off from any support, led

570-405: A Soviet film is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . KGB The Committee for State Security ( Russian : Комитет государственной безопасности , romanized :  Komitet gosudarstvennoy bezopasnosti , IPA: [kəmʲɪˈtʲed ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ] ), abbreviated as KGB (Russian: КГБ ; listen ) was the main security agency of

684-529: A USSR-born illegal spy was elaborate, using the life of either: The agent then substantiated his or her false-identity by living in a foreign country, before emigrating to the target country. For example, the KGB would send a US-bound illegal resident via the Soviet embassy in Ottawa , Canada . Tradecraft included stealing and photographing documents, code-names, contacts, targets, and dead letter boxes , and working as

798-597: A core part of the Belarusian national identity, with Belarus continuing to refer to itself as the "partisan republic" since the 1970s. Following the war, many former Soviet partisans entered positions of government, among them Pyotr Masherov and Kirill Mazurov , both of whom were First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia. Until the late 1970s, the Belarusian government was almost entirely composed of former partisans. Numerous pieces of media have been made about

912-523: A disputed election took place on 8 January 1922, and the territory was annexed to Poland. Żeligowski later in his memoir which was published in London in 1943 condemned the annexation of the Republic by Poland, as well as the policy of closing Belarusian schools and general disregard of Marshal Józef Piłsudski 's confederation plans by Polish ally. In January 1919, a part of Belarus under Bolshevik Russian control

1026-482: A laborer-robot. The case of Haas is handled by the Soviet intelligence colonel Konstantin Ladeynikov. The main difficulty is that Ladeynikov has fallen into the sight of the intelligence services, but the intelligence officer asks for permission from his leadership to stay in the country and continue work. However, Ladeynikov has no portrait of Hass so he needs a person who can identify him. The KGB leadership appeals to

1140-533: A letter accusing the Reagan administration of plotting to overthrow President Zia and his regime. The letter also mentioned that after Mujib was assassinated the United States contacted Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad to replace him as a short-term President. When the election happened in the end of 1979, the KGB made sure that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party would win. The party received 207 out of 300 seats, but

1254-518: A national consciousness. In western Belarus under Polish control, Byelorussia became commonly used in the regions of Białystok and Grodno during the interwar period. The term Byelorussia (its names in other languages such as English being based on the Russian form) was used officially only until 1991. Officially, the full name of the country is Republic of Belarus ( Рэспубліка Беларусь , Республика Беларусь , Respublika Belarus ). In Russia,

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1368-505: A new party called BAKSAL and created a one-party state. Three years later, the KGB in that region increased from 90 to 200, and by 1979 printed more than 100 newspaper articles. In these articles, the KGB officials accused Ziaur Rahman , popularly known as "Zia", and his regime of having ties with the United States. In August 1979, the KGB accused some officers who were arrested in Dhaka in an overthrow attempt, and by October, Andropov approved

1482-536: A quarter of its population and half of its economic resources. In 1945, the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the United Nations and the Soviet Union. The republic was home to a widespread and diverse anti-Nazi insurgent movement which dominated politics until well into the 1970s, overseeing Belarus' transformation from an agrarian to an industrial economy. The parliament of the republic proclaimed

1596-502: A staggering quarter of the prewar population . In the 1990s some raised the estimate even higher, to 2.7 million. The Jewish population of Belarus was devastated during the Holocaust and never recovered. The population of Belarus did not regain its pre-war level until 1971. Belarus was also hit hard economically, losing around half of its economic resources. The borders of the Byelorussian SSR and Poland were redrawn, in accord with

1710-563: A vast East Slavic state ruled by the Rurikids . Upon the death of its ruler Yaroslav the Wise in 1054, the state split into independent principalities. The Battle on the Nemiga River in 1067 was one of the more notable events of the period, the date of which is considered the founding date of Minsk . Many early principalities were virtually razed or severely affected by a major Mongol invasion in

1824-418: A way to put Karmal back in. They brought him and three other ministers secretly to Moscow during which time they discussed how to put him back in power. The decision was to fly him back to Bagram by 13 December. Four days later, Amin's nephew, Asadullah, was taken to Moscow by the KGB for acute food poisoning treatment. On 19 November 1979, the KGB had a meeting on which they discussed Operation Cascade, which

1938-602: Is landlocked , relatively flat, and contains large tracts of marshy land. About 40% of Belarus is covered by forests. The country lies within two ecoregions: Sarmatic mixed forests and Central European mixed forests . Many streams and 11,000 lakes are found in Belarus. Three major rivers run through the country: the Neman , the Pripyat , and the Dnieper . The Neman flows westward towards

2052-437: Is in the transitional zone between continental climates and maritime climates . Natural resources include peat deposits, small quantities of oil and natural gas, granite , dolomite ( limestone ), marl , chalk, sand, gravel, and clay. About 70% of the radiation from neighboring Ukraine's 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster entered Belarusian territory, and about a fifth of Belarusian land (principally farmland and forests in

2166-657: The Reichskommissariat Ostland in 1941, but in 1943 the German authorities allowed local collaborators to set up a client state, the Belarusian Central Council . During World War II, Belarus was home to a variety of guerrilla movements , including Jewish, Polish, and Soviet partisans. Belarusian partisan formations formed a large part of the Soviet partisans , and in the modern day these partisans have formed

2280-568: The Bandkeramik predominated in what now constitutes Belarus, and the Cimmerians as well as other pastoralists roamed through the area by 1,000 BC. The Zarubintsy culture later became widespread at the beginning of the 1st millennium . In addition, remains from the Dnieper–Donets culture were found in Belarus and parts of Ukraine . The region was first permanently settled by Baltic tribes in

2394-872: The Belarusian Byzantine Catholic Church was formed by the Poles to bring Orthodox Christians into the See of Rome . The Belarusian church entered into a full communion with the Latin Church through the Union of Brest in 1595, while keeping its Byzantine liturgy in the Church Slavonic language. The union between Poland and Lithuania ended in 1795 with the Third Partition of Poland by Imperial Russia, Prussia , and Austria . The Belarusian territories acquired by

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2508-641: The Belarusian People's Republic . Immediately afterwards, the Polish–Soviet War ignited, and the territory of Belarus was divided between Poland and Soviet Russia. The Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic exists as a government in exile ever since then; in fact, it is currently the world's longest serving government in exile. The Belarusian People's Republic was the first attempt to create an independent Belarusian state under

2622-527: The Belarusian Popular Front campaigned for early elections later in the year, two years before they were scheduled. By May of that year, about 383,000 signatures had been collected for a petition to hold the referendum, which was 23,000 more than legally required to be put to a referendum at the time. Despite this, the meeting of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus to ultimately decide

2736-623: The Belarusian minority was no exception. The polonization drive was inspired and influenced by the Polish National Democracy , led by Roman Dmowski , who advocated refusing Belarusians and Ukrainians the right for a free national development. A Belarusian organization, the Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union , was banned in 1927, and opposition to Polish government was met with state repressions. Nonetheless, compared to

2850-798: The CIS , the CSTO , the EAEU , the OSCE , and the Non-Aligned Movement . It has shown no aspirations of joining the European Union but maintains a bilateral relationship with the bloc , and also participates in the Baku Initiative . The name Belarus is closely related with the term Belaya Rus' , i.e., White Rus' . There are several claims to the origin of the name White Rus' . An ethno-religious theory suggests that

2964-1020: The Federal Security Agency of the RSFSR (AFB), the Inter-Republican Security Service (MSB), the Central Intelligence Service (TsSR), and the Committee for the Protection of the State Border (KOGG). In 1993, the KGB was succeeded overall by the Federal Counterintelligence Service (FSK) of Russia (itself a direct successor to the AFB), which in-turn was succeeded by the Federal Security Service of

3078-610: The Federal Security Service (FSB). Following the 1991–1992 South Ossetia War , the self-proclaimed Republic of South Ossetia established its own KGB, keeping the unreformed name. In addition, Belarus established its successor to the KGB of the Byelorussian SSR in 1991, the Belarusian KGB , keeping the unreformed name. Restructuring in the MVD following the fall of Beria in June 1953 resulted in

3192-667: The Moscow Narodny Bank Limited to finance the acquisition, and an intermediary, Singaporean businessman Amos Dawe, as the frontman. On 2 February 1973, the Politburo , which was led by Yuri Andropov at the time, demanded that KGB members influence Bangladesh (which was then newly formed) where Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was scheduled to win parliamentary elections. During that time, the Soviet secret service tried hard to ensure support for his party and his allies and even predicted an easy victory for him. In June 1975, Mujib formed

3306-787: The Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR). Despite its accurate forecast of crisis, the PZPR hindered the KGB's destroying the nascent Solidarity-backed political movement, fearing explosive civil violence if they imposed the KGB-recommended martial law. Aided by their Polish counterpart, the Security Service (Służba Bezpieczeństwa—SB), the KGB successfully infiltrated spies to Solidarity and the Catholic Church, and in Operation X co-ordinated

3420-768: The Soviet Union after the war ended in 1921, and the Byelorussian SSR became a founding member of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922. In the 1920s and 1930s, Soviet agricultural and economic policies, including collectivization and five-year plans for the national economy , led to famine and political repression. The western part of modern Belarus remained part of the Second Polish Republic . After an early period of liberalization, tensions between increasingly nationalistic Polish government and various increasingly separatist ethnic minorities started to grow, and

3534-507: The Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka , OGPU , and NKVD . Attached to the Council of Ministers , it was the chief government agency of "union-republican jurisdiction", carrying out internal security, foreign intelligence , counter-intelligence and secret police functions. Similar agencies operated in each of

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3648-568: The Tatars (i.e., Polotsk, Vitebsk, and Mogilev) had been referred to as White Rus' . A fourth theory suggests that the color white was associated with the west, and Belarus was the western part of Rus' in the 9th to 13th centuries. The name Rus' is often conflated with its Latin forms Russia and Ruthenia , thus Belarus is often referred to as White Russia or White Ruthenia . The name first appeared in German and Latin medieval literature ;

3762-466: The UN Security Council statement condemning "the apparent terrorist attack" intimating the possibility that the Belarusian government itself was behind the bombing. Mass protests erupted across the country following the disputed 2020 Belarusian presidential election , in which Lukashenko sought a sixth term in office. Neighbouring countries Poland and Lithuania do not recognize Lukashenko as

3876-552: The West German intelligence service . In the 1960s, acting upon the information of KGB defector Anatoliy Golitsyn , the CIA counter-intelligence chief James Jesus Angleton believed KGB had moles in two key places—the counter-intelligence section of CIA and the FBI's counter-intelligence department—through whom they would know of, and control, US counter-espionage to protect the moles and hamper

3990-581: The declaration of martial law with Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski and the Polish Communist Party; however, the vacillating, conciliatory Polish approach blunted KGB effectiveness—and Solidarity then fatally weakened the Communist Polish government in 1989. Nadezhin saw that China threatened the USSR by claiming a historic right to regions under the USSR's control. China also wanted to displace the USSR as

4104-613: The non-official cover CIA officer). In its early history, the KGB valued illegal spies more than legal spies, because illegal spies infiltrated their targets with greater ease. The KGB residency executed four types of espionage: (i) political, (ii) economic, (iii) military-strategic, and (iv) disinformation , effected with "active measures" (PR Line), counter-intelligence and security (KR Line), and scientific–technological intelligence (X Line); quotidian duties included SIGINT (RP Line) and illegal support (N Line). The KGB classified its spies as: The false-identity (or legend ) assumed by

4218-703: The republics of the Soviet Union aside from the Russian SFSR , where the KGB was headquartered, with many associated ministries, state committees and state commissions. The agency was a military service governed by army laws and regulations, in the same fashion as the Soviet Army or the MVD Internal Troops . While most of the KGB archives remain classified, two online documentary sources are available. Its main functions were foreign intelligence , counter-intelligence, operative-investigative activities, guarding

4332-491: The sovereignty of Belarus on 27 July 1990, and during the dissolution of the Soviet Union , Belarus gained independence on 25 August 1991. Following the adoption of a new constitution in 1994, Alexander Lukashenko was elected Belarus's first president in the country's first and only free election after independence, serving as president ever since. Lukashenko heads a highly centralized authoritarian government. Belarus ranks low in international measurements of freedom of

4446-429: The state-owned enterprise industrial sector. Norway and Japan have joined the sanctions regime which aims to isolate Belarus from the international supply chain. Most major Belarusian banks are also under restrictions. Belarus lies between latitudes 51° and 57° N , and longitudes 23° and 33° E . Its extension from north to south is 560 km (350 mi), from west to east is 650 km (400 mi). It

4560-504: The (larger) Ukrainian minority , Belarusians were much less politically aware and active, and thus suffered fewer repressions than the Ukrainians. In 1935, after the death of Piłsudski, a new wave of repressions was released upon the minorities, with many Orthodox churches and Belarusian schools being closed. Use of the Belarusian language was discouraged. Belarusian leadership was sent to Bereza Kartuska prison . In September 1939,

4674-535: The 13th century, but the lands of modern-day Belarus avoided the brunt of the invasion and eventually joined the Grand Duchy of Lithuania . There are no sources of military seizure, but the annals affirm the alliance and united foreign policy of Polotsk and Lithuania for decades. Incorporation into the Grand Duchy of Lithuania resulted in an economic, political, and ethno-cultural unification of Belarusian lands. Of

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4788-454: The 1919-proposed Curzon Line . Joseph Stalin implemented a policy of Sovietization to isolate the Byelorussian SSR from Western influences . This policy involved sending Russians from various parts of the Soviet Union and placing them in key positions in the Byelorussian SSR government. After Stalin died in 1953, Nikita Khrushchev continued his predecessor's cultural hegemony program, stating, "The sooner we all start speaking Russian,

4902-451: The 3rd century. Around the 5th century, the area was taken over by the Slavs. The takeover was partially due to the lack of military coordination of the Balts, but their gradual assimilation into Slavic culture was peaceful. Invaders from Asia , among whom were the Huns and Avars , swept through c. 400–600 AD, but were unable to dislodge the Slavic presence. In the 9th century, the territory of modern Belarus became part of Kievan Rus' ,

5016-477: The Afghan-controlled KGB intelligence service throughout the nation which were under the command of Ahmad Shah Paiya and had received all the training they need in the Soviet Union. By May 1982, the Ministry of Internal Affairs was set up in Afghanistan under the command of KHAD. In 1983, Boris Voskoboynikov became the next head of the KGB while Leonid Kostromin became his Deputy Minister. The KGB dissolved on December 3, 1991. Its immediate successor agencies were

5130-424: The August 1991 Soviet coup d'état in an attempt to depose President Mikhail Gorbachev . The failed coup d'état and the collapse of the USSR heralded the end of the KGB on 3 December 1991. The KGB's modern day successors are the FSB ( Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation ) and the SVR ( Foreign Intelligence Service ). The GRU (Foreign military intelligence service of the Soviet Union) recruited

5244-745: The Baltic Sea and the Pripyat flows eastward to the Dnieper; the Dnieper flows southward towards the Black Sea . The highest point is Dzyarzhynskaya Hara (Dzyarzhynsk Hill) at 345 metres (1,132 ft), and the lowest point is on the Neman River at 90 m (295 ft). The average elevation of Belarus is 160 m (525 ft) above sea level . The climate features mild to cold winters, with January minimum temperatures ranging from −4  °C (24.8  °F ) in southwest ( Brest ) to −8 °C (17.6 °F) in northeast ( Vitebsk ), and cool and moist summers with an average temperature of 18 °C (64.4 °F). Belarus has an average annual rainfall of 550 to 700 mm (21.7 to 27.6 in). The country

5358-507: The Belarusian partisans, including the 1985 film Come and See and the works of authors Ales Adamovich and Vasil Bykaŭ . The German occupation in 1941–1944 and war on the Eastern Front devastated Belarus. During that time, 209 out of 290 towns and cities were destroyed, 85% of the republic's industry, and more than one million buildings. After the war, it was estimated that 2.2 million local inhabitants had died, and of those some 810,000 were combatants—some foreign. This figure represented

5472-417: The Byelorussian SSR took place. Though the opposition candidates, mostly associated with the pro-independence Belarusian Popular Front , took only 10% of the seats, Belarus declared itself sovereign on 27 July 1990 by issuing the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic . Wide-scale strikes erupted in April 1991. With the support of the Communist Party of Byelorussia ,

5586-503: The Hungarian revolt, KGB chairman Ivan Serov personally supervised the post-invasion "normalization" of the country. Consequently, the KGB monitored the satellite state populations for occurrences of "harmful attitudes" and "hostile acts"; yet, stopping the Prague Spring, deposing a nationalist Communist government, was its greatest achievement. The KGB prepared the Red Army's route by infiltrating Czechoslovakia with many illegal residents disguised as Western tourists. They were to gain

5700-423: The KGB's structure, completely separate from the Soviet armed forces - the Border Troops , the Governmental Signals Troops (which in addition to providing communications between the central government and the lower administrative levels, also provided the communications between the General Staff and the military districts), the Special Service Troops (which provided EW , ELINT, SIGINT and cryptography) as well as

5814-478: The KGB). Brezhnev sacked Shelepin's successor and protégé, Vladimir Semichastny (in office: 1961–1967) as KGB Chairman and reassigned him to a sinecure in the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic . Shelepin found himself demoted from the chairman of the Committee of Party and State Control in 1965 to Trade Union Council chairman (in office 1967–1975). In the 1980s, the Soviet Union glasnost provoked KGB Chairman Vladimir Kryuchkov (in office: 1988–1991) to lead

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5928-402: The PDPA received a fake request from Taraki concerning health issues among the party members. On that, the centre accused him of "terrorist" activities and expelled him from the party. The following day General Boris Ivanov, who was behind the mission in Kabul along with General Lev Gorelov and Deputy Defense Minister Ivan Pavlovsky, visited Amin to congratulate him on his election to power. On

6042-499: The Poles to reconvert to the Orthodox faith. In 1863, economic and cultural pressure exploded in a revolt , led by Konstanty Kalinowski (also known as Kastus). After the failed revolt, the Russian government reintroduced the use of Cyrillic to Belarusian in 1864 and no documents in Belarusian were permitted by the Russian government until 1905. During the negotiations of the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk , Belarus first declared independence under German occupation on 25 March 1918, forming

6156-419: The Red Army's invasion. The KGB's Czech success in the 1960s was matched with the failed suppression of the Solidarity labour movement in 1980s Poland. The KGB had forecast political instability consequent to the election of Archbishop of Kraków Karol Wojtyla as the first Polish Pope, John Paul II, whom they had categorised as "subversive" because of his anti-Communist sermons against the one-party régime of

6270-566: The Roosevelt Government—to identify the Soviet spies Duggan, White, and others—he was ignored. Hence, during the Second World War (1939–45)—at the Tehran (1943), Yalta (1945), and Potsdam (1945) conferences—Big Three Ally Joseph Stalin of the USSR, was better informed about the war affairs of his US and UK allies than they were about his. Soviet espionage was at its most successful in collecting scientific and technological intelligence about advances in jet propulsion , radar and encryption , which impressed Moscow, but stealing atomic secrets

6384-400: The Russian Empire under the reign of Catherine II were included into the Belarusian Governorate (Russian: Белорусское генерал-губернаторство ) in 1796 and held until their occupation by the German Empire during World War I . Under Nicholas I and Alexander III the national cultures were repressed with policies of Polonization replaced by Russification which included

6498-534: The Russian Federation (FSB). The Committee for State Security was a militarized organization adhering to military discipline and regulations. Its operational personnel held army style ranks, except for the maritime branch of the Border troops, which held navy style ranks. The KGB consisted of two main components - organs and troops. The organs included the services directly involved in the committee's main roles - intelligence, counter-intelligence, military counter-intelligence etc. The troops included military units within

6612-428: The Second Red Scare (1947–57) and the crisis in the CPUSA hampered recruitment. The last major illegal resident, Rudolf Abel (Vilyam Genrikhovich Fisher/"Willie" Vilyam Fishers), was betrayed by his assistant, Reino Häyhänen , in 1957. Recruitment then emphasised mercenary agents, an approach especially successful in scientific and technical espionage, since private industry practised lax internal security, unlike

6726-455: The Soviet Union in 1941. The defense of Brest Fortress was the first major battle of Operation Barbarossa . The Byelorussian SSR was the hardest-hit Soviet republic in World War II; it remained under German occupation until 1944. The German Generalplan Ost called for the extermination, expulsion, or enslavement of most or all Belarusians to provide more living space in the East for Germans. Most of Western Belarus became part of

6840-500: The Soviet Union invaded and occupied eastern Poland, following the German invasion of Poland two weeks earlier which marked the beginning of World War II . The territories of Western Belorussia were annexed and incorporated into the Byelorussian SSR. The Soviet-controlled Byelorussian People's Council officially took control of the territories, whose populations consisted of a mixture of Poles, Ukrainians, Belarusians and Jews, on 28 October 1939 in Białystok . Nazi Germany invaded

6954-414: The Spetsnaz of the KGB (the Kremlin Regiment , Alpha Group , Vympel , etc.). At the time of the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991 the KGB had the following structure: The Soviet Union was a federal state, consisting of 15 constituent Soviet Socialist Republics, each with its own government closely resembling the central government of the USSR. The republican affiliation offices almost completely duplicated

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7068-479: The Supreme Council at the time and was largely opposed to political and economic reform, with allegations that some of the deputies opposed Belarusian independence. A national constitution was adopted in March 1994 in which the functions of prime minister were given to the President of Belarus . A two-round election for the presidency on 24 June 1994 and 10 July 1994 catapulted the formerly unknown Alexander Lukashenko into national prominence. He garnered 45% of

7182-506: The US Government. One notable KGB success occurred in 1967, with the walk-in recruitment of US Navy Chief Warrant Officer John Anthony Walker . Over eighteen years, Walker enabled Soviet Intelligence to decipher some one million US Navy messages, and track the US Navy. In the late Cold War, the KGB was successful with intelligence coups in the cases of the mercenary walk-in recruits FBI counterspy Robert Hanssen (1979–2001) and CIA Soviet Division officer Aldrich Ames (1985–1994). It

7296-492: The United States have all imposed sanctions against Belarus because of the rigged election and political oppression during the ongoing protests in the country. Further sanctions were imposed in 2022 following the country's role and complicity in the Russian invasion of Ukraine; Russian troops were allowed to stage part of the invasion from Belarusian territory. These include not only corporate offices and individual officers of government but also private individuals who work in

7410-529: The Zia regime did not last long, falling on 29 May 1981 when after numerous escapes, Zia was assassinated in Chittagong . The KGB started infiltrating Afghanistan as early as 27 April 1978. During that time, the People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was planning the overthrow of President Mohammed Daoud Khan . Under the leadership of Major General Sayed Mohammad Gulabzoy and Muhammad Rafi – code named Mammad and Niruz respectively – the Soviet secret service learned of

7524-459: The actor of the children's theater, the father of two children, Ivan Savushkin, with a request to draw a portrait of Hass. In 1944, Savushkin fled from a Nazi concentration camp , where Hass conducted his fatal experiments, turning people into meaningless animals. Over time, Savushkin understands how much he depends on him in the operation with Haas and agrees to go to help Ladeynikov. In addition, he knows German well. This article related to

7638-399: The chronicles of Jan of Czarnków mention the imprisonment of Lithuanian grand duke Jogaila and his mother at " Albae Russiae, Poloczk dicto " in 1381. The first known use of White Russia to refer to Belarus was in the late-16th century by Englishman Sir Jerome Horsey , who was known for his close contacts with the Russian royal court. During the 17th century, the Russian tsars used

7752-399: The country's name was changed to the Republic of Belarus on 25 August 1991. Stanislav Shushkevich , the chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Belarus, met with Boris Yeltsin of Russia and Leonid Kravchuk of Ukraine on 8 December 1991 in Białowieża Forest to formally declare the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of the Commonwealth of Independent States . In January 1992,

7866-444: The coup which later became known as Saur Revolution , and became the country's leader, with Hafizullah Amin as vice-chairman of the Council of Ministers and vice-chairman of the Revolutionary Council . On 5 December 1978, Taraki compared the Saur Revolution to the Russian Revolution , which struck Vladimir Kryuchkov , the FCD chief of that time. On 27 March 1979, after losing the city of Herat in an uprising , Amin became

7980-426: The date for said referendum was delayed by six months. However, with no evidence to suggest such, the Supreme Council rejected the petition on the grounds of massive irregularities. Elections for the Supreme Council were set for March 1994. A new law on parliamentary elections failed to pass by 1993. Disputes over the referendum were accredited to the largely conservative Party of Belarusian Communists , which controlled

8094-437: The detection and capture of other Communist spies. Moreover, KGB counter-intelligence vetted foreign intelligence sources, so that the moles might "officially" approve an anti-CIA double agent as trustworthy. In retrospect, the captures of the moles Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen proved that Angleton, though ignored as over-aggressive, was correct, despite the fact that it cost him his job at CIA, which he left in 1975. In

8208-718: The diplomats Laurence Duggan and Michael Whitney Straight in the State Department, the statistician Harry Dexter White in the Treasury Department , the economist Lauchlin Currie (an FDR advisor), and the "Silvermaster Group", headed by statistician Greg Silvermaster , in the Farm Security Administration and the Board of Economic Warfare. Moreover, when Whittaker Chambers , formerly Alger Hiss's courier, approached

8322-431: The east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an area of 207,600 square kilometres (80,200 sq mi) with a population of 9.1 million. The country has a hemiboreal climate and is administratively divided into six regions . Minsk is the capital and largest city ; it is administered separately as a city with special status. Between

8436-404: The economy, with inflation reaching 108.7%. Around the same time the 2011 Minsk Metro bombing occurred in which 15 people were killed and 204 were injured. Two suspects, who were arrested within two days, confessed to being the perpetrators and were executed by shooting in 2012. The official version of events as publicised by the Belarusian government was questioned in the unprecedented wording of

8550-531: The fabrication of a letter in which he stated that Muhammad Ghulam Tawab , an Air Vice-Marshal at the time, was the main plotter, which led the Bangladesh, Indian and Sri Lankan press to believe that he was an American spy. Under Andropov's command, Service A, a KGB division, falsified the information in a letter to Moudud Ahmed in which it said that he was supported by the American government and by 1981 even sent

8664-411: The faster we shall build communism." Between Stalin's death in 1953 and 1980, Belarusian politics was dominated by former members of the Soviet partisans, including First Secretaries Kirill Mazurov and Pyotr Masherov. Mazurov and Masherov oversaw Belarus's rapid industrialisation and transformation from one of the Soviet Union's poorest republics into one of its richest. In 1986, the Byelorussian SSR

8778-507: The formation of the KGB under Ivan Serov in March 1954. Secretary Leonid Brezhnev overthrew Premier Nikita Khrushchev in 1964. Brezhnev (in power: 1964–1982) was concerned about ambitious spy-chiefs – the communist party had managed Serov's successor, the ambitious KGB Chairman, Aleksandr Shelepin (in office: 1958–1961), but Shelepin carried out Brezhnev's palace coup d'état against Khrushchev in 1964 (despite Shelepin not then being in

8892-545: The former lands of Kievan Rus' , including the territories of modern-day Belarus and Ukraine . On 2 February 1386, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland were joined in a personal union through a marriage of their rulers . This union set in motion the developments that eventually resulted in the formation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , created in 1569 by the Union of Lublin . In

9006-530: The ideological agent Julian Wadleigh , who became a State Department diplomat in 1936. The NKVD 's first US operation was establishing the legal residency of Boris Bazarov and the illegal residency of Iskhak Akhmerov in 1934. Throughout, the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and its General Secretary Earl Browder , helped NKVD recruit Americans, working in government, business, and industry. Other important, low-level and high-level ideological agents were

9120-449: The imminent uprising. Two days after the uprising, Nur Muhammad Taraki , leader of the PDPA, issued a notice of concern to the Soviet ambassador Alexander Puzanov and the resident of Kabul -based KGB embassy Viliov Osadchy that they could have staged a coup three days earlier hence the warning. On that, both Puzanov and Osadchy dismissed Taraki's complaint and reported it to Moscow, which broke

9234-485: The leader of the international socialist movement. The KGB wanted to infiltrate the Chinese security services with "a sufficient number of agents". Top agents also believed that the KGB needed to do more to ensure the protection of the USSR from Chinese spies. According to declassified documents, the KGB aggressively recruited former German (mostly Abwehr ) intelligence officers after the war. The KGB used them to penetrate

9348-629: The legitimate president of Belarus and the Lithuanian government has allotted a residence for main opposition candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and other members of the Belarusian opposition in Vilnius . Neither is Lukashenko recognized as the legitimate president of Belarus by the European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom or the United States. The European Union, Canada, the United Kingdom, and

9462-457: The life of Gulabzoy and Watanjar and send them to Tashkent from Bagram Airfield by giving them fake passports. With that and a sealed container in which an almost breathless Sarwari was laying, they came to Tashkent on 19 September. During the continued investigation in Tashkent, the three were put under surveillance in one of the rooms for as long as four weeks where they were investigated for

9576-637: The medieval period and the 20th century, different states at various times controlled the lands of modern-day Belarus, including Kievan Rus' , the Principality of Polotsk , the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth , and the Russian Empire . In the aftermath of the Russian Revolution in 1917, different states arose competing for legitimacy amid the Civil War , ultimately ending in

9690-675: The mid-1970s, the KGB tried to secretly buy three banks in northern California to gain access to high-technology secrets. Their efforts were thwarted by the CIA. The banks were Peninsula National Bank in Burlingame, the First National Bank of Fresno, and the Tahoe National Bank in South Lake Tahoe. These banks had made numerous loans to advanced technology companies and had many of their officers and directors as clients. The KGB used

9804-658: The name "Belarus". Despite significant efforts, the state ceased to exist, primarily because the territory was continually dominated by the Imperial German Army and the Imperial Russian Army in World War I , and then the Bolshevik Red Army . It existed from only 1918 to 1919 but created prerequisites for the formation of a Belarusian state. The choice of name was probably based on the fact that core members of

9918-440: The name used to describe the part of old Ruthenian lands within the Grand Duchy of Lithuania that had been populated mostly by Slavs who had been Christianized early, as opposed to Black Ruthenia , which was predominantly inhabited by pagan Balts . An alternative explanation for the name comments on the white clothing the local Slavic population wears. A third theory suggests that the old Rus' lands that were not conquered by

10032-600: The names of the Yotvingians . Another hypothesis connects the word with the Gothic Kingdom that occupied parts of the territory of modern Belarus and Ukraine in the 4th and 5th centuries. The self-naming of Goths was Gutans and Gytos , which are close to Gudija. Yet another hypothesis is based on the idea that Gudija in Lithuanian means "the other" and may have been used historically by Lithuanians to refer to any people who did not speak Lithuanian. From 5000 to 2000 BC,

10146-419: The naturally regenerating forest 2% was reported to be primary forest (consisting of native tree species with no clearly visible indications of human activity) and around 16% of the forest area was found within protected areas. For the year 2015, 100% of the forest area was reported to be under public ownership . Belarus borders five countries: Latvia to the north, Lithuania to the northwest, Poland to

10260-402: The newly formed government were educated in tsarist universities, with corresponding emphasis on the ideology of West-Russianism. The Republic of Central Lithuania was a short-lived political entity, which was the last attempt to restore Lithuania to the historical confederacy state (it was also supposed to create Lithuania Upper and Lithuania Lower). The republic was created in 1920 following

10374-552: The next Prime Minister , and by 27 July became Minister of Defense as well. The centre though was concerned of his powers since the same month he issued them a complaint about lack of funds and demanded US$ 400,000,000. Furthermore, it was discovered that Amin had a master's degree from Columbia University , and that he preferred to communicate in English instead of Russian. Unfortunately for Moscow's intelligence services, Amin succeeded Taraki and by 16 September Radio Kabul announced that

10488-602: The operation, including the Interior Ministry building, the Internal Security ( KHAD ) building, and the General Staff building ( Darul Aman Palace ). Out of the 54 KGB operators that assaulted the palace, 5 were killed in action, including Colonel Grigori Boyarinov, and 32 were wounded. Alpha Group veterans call this operation one of the most successful in the group's history. In June 1981, there were 370 members in

10602-461: The press and civil liberties . It has continued several Soviet-era policies, such as state ownership of large sections of the economy . Belarus is the only European country that continues to use capital punishment . In 2000, Belarus and Russia signed a treaty for greater cooperation, forming the Union State . The country has been a member of the United Nations since its founding and has joined

10716-679: The principalities held by the duchy, nine of them were settled by a population that would eventually become the Belarusians . During this time, the duchy was involved in several military campaigns, including fighting on the side of Poland against the Teutonic Knights at the Battle of Grunwald in 1410; the joint victory allowed the duchy to control the northwestern borderlands of Eastern Europe . The Muscovites , led by Ivan III of Russia , began military campaigns in 1486 in an attempt to incorporate

10830-527: The reliability of their claims by the KGB. Soon after, they were satisfied with the results and sent them to Bulgaria for a secret retreat. On 9 October, the Soviet secret service had a meeting in which Bogdanov, Gorelov, Pavlonsky and Puzanov were the main chiefs who were discussing what to do with Amin who was very harsh at the meeting. After the two-hour meeting they began to worry that Amin would establish an Islamic republic in Afghanistan and decided to seek

10944-435: The return to Orthodox Christianity of Belarusian Uniates . Belarusian language was banned in schools while in neighboring Samogitia primary school education with Samogitian literacy was allowed. In a Russification drive in the 1840s, Nicholas I prohibited the use of the Belarusian language in public schools, campaigned against Belarusian publications, and tried to pressure those who had converted to Catholicism under

11058-627: The rise of the Byelorussian SSR , which became a founding constituent republic of the Soviet Union in 1922. After the Polish-Soviet War (1918–1921), Belarus lost almost half of its territory to Poland. Much of the borders of Belarus took their modern shape in 1939, when some lands of the Second Polish Republic were reintegrated into it after the Soviet invasion of Poland , and were finalized after World War II. During World War II, military operations devastated Belarus, which lost about

11172-411: The same day the KGB decided to imprison Sayed Gulabzoy as well as Mohammad Aslam Watanjar and Assadullah Sarwari but while in captivity and under an investigation all three denied the allegation that the current Minister of Defence was an American secret agent. The denial of claims was passed on to Yuri Andropov and Leonid Brezhnev , who as the main chiefs of the KGB proposed operation Raduga to save

11286-591: The southeastern regions) was affected by radiation fallout. The United Nations and other agencies have aimed to reduce the level of radiation in affected areas, especially through the use of caesium binders and rapeseed cultivation, which are meant to decrease soil levels of caesium-137 . In Belarus forest cover is around 43% of the total land area, equivalent to 8,767,600 hectares (ha) of forest in 2020, up from 7,780,000 hectares (ha) in 1990. In 2020, naturally regenerating forests covered 6,555,600 hectares (ha), and planted forests covered 2,212,000 hectares (ha). Of

11400-467: The staged rebellion of soldiers of the 1st Lithuanian–Belarusian Division of the Polish Army under Lucjan Żeligowski . Centered on the historical capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , Vilna ( Lithuanian : Vilnius , Polish : Wilno ), for 18 months the entity served as a buffer state between Poland , upon which it depended, and Lithuania, which claimed the area. After a variety of delays,

11514-669: The state border of the USSR, guarding the leadership of the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the Soviet Government , organization and security of government communications as well as combating nationalist , dissident , religious and anti-Soviet activities. On 3 December 1991, the KGB was officially dissolved. It was succeeded in Russia by the Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) and what would later become

11628-445: The structural organization of the main KGB. The Chairman of the KGB , First Deputy Chairmen (1–2), Deputy Chairmen (4–6). Its policy Collegium comprised a chairman, deputy chairmen, directorate chiefs, and republican KGB chairmen. A Time magazine article in 1983, reported that the KGB was the world's most effective information-gathering organization. It operated legal and illegal espionage residencies in target countries where

11742-655: The term to describe the lands added from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The term Belorussia (Russian: Белору́ссия , the latter part similar but spelled and stressed differently from Росси́я , Russia ) first rose in the days of the Russian Empire , and the Russian Tsar was usually styled "the Tsar of All the Russias", as Russia or the Russian Empire was formed by three parts of Russia—the Great , Little , and White . This asserted that

11856-521: The territories are all Russian and all the peoples are also Russian; in the case of the Belarusians, they were variants of the Russian people. After the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, the term White Russia caused some confusion, as it was also the name of the military force that opposed the red Bolsheviks. During the period of the Byelorussian SSR, the term Byelorussia was embraced as part of

11970-572: The trust of and spy upon the most outspoken proponents of Alexander Dubček 's new government. They were to plant subversive evidence, justifying the USSR's invasion, that right-wing groups—aided by Western intelligence agencies—were going to depose the Communist government of Czechoslovakia. Finally, the KGB prepared hardline , pro-USSR members of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ), such as Alois Indra and Vasiľ Škultéty, to assume power after

12084-456: The usage of Belorussia is still very common. In Lithuanian, besides Baltarusija (White Russia), Belarus is also called Gudija . The etymology of the word Gudija is not clear. By one hypothesis the word derives from the Old Prussian name Gudwa , which, in turn, is related to the form Żudwa , which is a distorted version of Sudwa, Sudovia. Sudovia , in its turn, is one of

12198-547: The vote in the first round and 80% in the second, defeating Vyacheslav Kebich who received 14% of the vote. The elections were the first and only free elections in Belarus after independence. The 2000s saw some economic disputes between Belarus and its primary economic partner, Russia. The first one was the 2004 Russia–Belarus energy dispute when Russian energy giant Gazprom ceased the import of gas into Belarus because of price disagreements. The 2007 Russia–Belarus energy dispute centered on accusations by Gazprom that Belarus

12312-516: The years following the union, the process of gradual Polonization of both Lithuanians and Ruthenians gained steady momentum. In culture and social life, both the Polish language and Catholicism became dominant, and in 1696, Polish replaced Ruthenian as the official language, with Ruthenian being banned from administrative use. However, the Ruthenian peasants continued to speak their native language. Also,

12426-664: Was Cold War policy for the KGB of the Soviet Union and the secret services of the satellite states to extensively monitor public and private opinion, internal subversion and possible revolutionary plots in the Soviet Bloc . In supporting those Communist governments, the KGB was instrumental in crushing the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 and the Prague Spring of " Socialism with a Human Face " in Czechoslovakia, 1968. During

12540-507: Was contaminated with most (70%) of the nuclear fallout from the explosion at the Chernobyl power plant located 16 km beyond the border in the neighboring Ukrainian SSR . By the late 1980s, political liberalization led to a national revival, with the Belarusian Popular Front becoming a major pro-independence force. In March 1990, elections for seats in the Supreme Soviet of

12654-613: Was declared the Socialist Soviet Republic of Byelorussia (SSRB) for just two months, but then merged with the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (LSSR) to form the Socialist Soviet Republic of Lithuania and Belorussia (SSR LiB), which lost control of its territories by August. The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR) was created in July 1920. The contested lands were divided between Poland and

12768-615: Was launched earlier that year. The operation carried out bombings with the help of GRU and FCD . On 27 December, the centre received news that KGB Special Forces Alpha and Zenith Group, supported by the 154th OSN GRU, also known as Muslim battalion and paratroopers from the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment stormed the Tajbeg Palace and killed Amin and his 100–150 personal guards. His 11-year-old son died due to shrapnel wounds. The Soviets installed Karmal as Amin's successor. Several other government buildings were seized during

12882-490: Was siphoning oil off of the Druzhba pipeline that runs through Belarus. Two years later the so-called Milk War , a trade dispute, started when Russia wanted Belarus to recognize the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and through a series of events ended up banning the import of dairy products from Belarus. In 2011, Belarus suffered a severe economic crisis attributed to Lukashenko's government's centralized control of

12996-626: Was the capstone of NKVD espionage against Anglo–American science and technology. To wit, British Manhattan Project team physicist Klaus Fuchs (GRU 1941) was the main agent of the Rosenberg spy ring. In 1944, the New York City residency infiltrated top secret Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico by recruiting Theodore Hall , a 19-year-old Harvard physicist. The KGB failed to rebuild most of its US illegal resident networks. The aftermath of

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