Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergei Naryshkin has accused the CIA and Pentagon of being involved in the unrest in Belarus, reported TASS yesterday. He said on Sept. 29, according to the service’s press department, “Fighters for renewed Belarus are trained in Poland, Georgia, Ukraine and the Baltic states with participation of instructors from the CIA and the Pentagon as well as U.S. non-governmental organizations affiliated with the U.S. Department of State.
“The U.S. is using the dirtiest methods for rocking the boat in Belarus. When cooperating with the Belarusian opposition, the Americans are shifting the focus on boosting the activity of its strong-arm members among radical nationalists. The Department of State has launched an effort to engage extremist elements in protests.”
He accused the U.S. of trying to drag Catholic communities into anti-government protests. “According to available information, the United States is blatantly interfering with the religious situation in Belarus, seeking to set Orthodox and Catholic Christians against each other. Trying to drag the Vatican, so far demonstrating restraint, into the Belarusian developments, the Americans are seeking to involve Catholic clergy in anti-government protests,” he said, and describing that the U.S. is calling on Catholic clergy to come up with criticism of the Belarusian authorities and use religious events, including prayers, cross processions, etc., to spread opposition propaganda among worshipers. This will resonate provocations.
“According to the data at hand, extremist opponents of the current Belarusian authorities hiding abroad are concocting a plan for a large-scale provocation, which would involve an arrest, injury or even murder of one of the reputable members of the Catholic Church,” Naryshkin said. “The aim is to inflame anti-government sentiments among Catholics and incite them to take a more active part in street protests.”
