2021 Minsk apartment shooting

On 28 September 2021, Andrei Zeltser, a Belarusian IT worker, was killed in Minsk by members of the State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (Belarusian KGB) who conducted a raid on his apartment. After a door breaching, a shootout took place, in which Zeltser fatally shot Dmitry Fedosyuk, a KGB agent from the Alpha Group unit.[1] Zeltser was subsequently killed by the KGB.[2][3] Zeltser was subsequently called a "terrorist" by the government.[4] According to the state-owned Belarusian Telegraph Agency, "members of an extremist group with ties to the opposition, supposedly, lived in the apartment", referring to Zeltser, 31, and his wife, who was arrested.[5][6]

Andrei Zeltser in his apartment, holding a shotgun and glancing at the camera.

More than a hundred people were detained in the aftermath of the event, in connection to social media comments, and some were subsequently given prison sentences.

Andrei Zeltser

Andrei Yuryevich Zeltser (Belarusian: Андрэй Юр'евіч Зельцэр; born 1989) was an opposition supporter and has been described as a dissident.[5][7][8][lower-alpha 1] According to a media report, on 16 August 2021 he posted an image of the white-red-white historical flag of Belarus (which has been used as a symbol of the opposition to the regime of Alexander Lukashenko) and "made a call to the people to unite and fight for the future of the country".[11] He worked for EPAM Systems, a Pennsylvania-headquartered software engineering company started by Belarusians.[12] There was speculation that Zeltser was a citizen of the United States; a U.S. official said that more information on this is being sought.[13] Zeltser raised an eight-year-old son, who was at school at the time of the shoot-out.[14]

Dmitry Fedosyuk

Dmitry Yuryevich Fedosyuk (Belarusian: Дзмітрый Юр’евіч Федасюк; born June 5, 1990), was the KGB agent killed in the shoot-out.[15][16] He was a senior lieutenant at the KGB's Alpha Group unit and had the call-sign Nirvana.[1][17] His career at the KGB began as an accountant.[18] His mother was the head of a department within the KGB.[19] He was married and had a five-year-old daughter.[20] Fedosyuk was posthumously awarded the Order for Personal Courage.[15][20]

Aftermath

Mass arrests

An edited video of the incident, which was recorded on multiple cameras,[21] was broadcast by Belarus state TV channels.[4][lower-alpha 2] This was followed by arrests of more than 100 people in connection to social media comments about the event, on charges of insulting a government official or inciting social hatred.[23][24][25] By 3 November 2021, more than 136 people were detained for 'trying to whitewash' Zeltser's name in social networks. For more than a month, detainees were denied access to legal counsel. Human rights activists said that the prison officials had not allowed basic necessities to be delivered to the prisoners.[26]

In February 2023, the Viasna Human Rights Centre reported that several of the detainees were released after having served their full sentences.[27]

Arrest of Gennady Mozheiko

Among the arrested was journalist Gennady Mozheiko, a correspondent of the Belarusian version of Komsomolskaya Pravda (KP v Belorusi). Mozheiko was detained in Moscow and sent to the Okrestina Detention Centre in Minsk. The Daily Telegraph reported on an allegation that he was subject to extraterritorial abduction in Moscow, by Belarusian agents; the official Belarusian account is that he was arrested in Belarus, upon crossing the border.[28] He was jailed for having written a news piece that featured a former classmate of Zeltser describing him in positive terms; the article was published on September 28, 2021, and was deleted the next morning. The website of Komsomolskaya Pravda in Belarus was blocked by authorities on the same day;[29] the newspaper ceased its operations in Minsk.[30][31] Russia expressed dissatisfaction over these developments, based on an expectation that work of "[their] media outlets" would not be interfered with, while also citing freedom of the press.[24] Nevertheless, the Belarusian authorities charged Mozheiko with 'whitewashing a criminal'.[32][33][28] As of October 16, 2021, Mozheiko is charged with 'inciting hatred' and 'an insult to a representative of the authority' under the articles of the State Criminal Code.[34]

Official reactions

On 1 October 2021, at the funeral of the KGB officer killed during the raid, Major General Oleg Belokonev publicly called for murdering members of the opposition as a revenge against hypothetical killings of state security officials:

In what families were these people raised? I think we deal too gently with them and the suchlike. For some reason they do not act in a lawful manner, and we try to do everything within the scope of the law; [we try] to talk to them within the limits of the law, to persuade them within the limits of the law, to reason them within the limits of the law. One should follow Putin’s words and ‘waste them in the sh*thouse’[lower-alpha 3] – 20, 100 persons for one our guy as a lesson to everyone else… So that no one was offended. It may be rude, but honest,”[36]

Lukashenko held a minute's silence to honor the agent who was killed, and said that the government would "not forgive them [opposition supporters] for the death of this guy."[2]

Opposition reactions

Prominent opposition activist Pavel Latushko said that "a fair investigation (of the incident) is impossible under Lukashenko", and: "Not only Andrei Zeltser — a calm, kind and compassionate man — has been declared a terrorist. All of those who disagree with the regime have been declared terrorists."[24]

Notes
  1. Charter 97[9] establishes Zeltser as an author of a 'manifesto in which he called on those who disagree with the award of victory to Alexander Lukashenko to "go to the end"'.[10]
  2. According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, "It's not clear if the way the video was edited accurately presents the true sequence of events."[22]
  3. In 1999 Vladimir Putin said: "if we capture them [Chechen rebels] in the toilet then we will waste them in the outhouse"[35]

References
  1. "«Товарищи белорусы, как ваши деды победили на войне?». Айтишник застрелил бойца «Альфы» КГБ в собственной квартире в Минске и погиб сам. Главное о несостыковках в этой истории". Новая газета (in Russian). 29 September 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  2. "Belarus conducts mass arrests in wake of fatal shooting". DW. 1 October 2021.
  3. "Belarus opposition says man killed in shootout was IT worker". Reuters. 29 September 2021.
  4. "Belarus mass arrests as Lukashenko cracks down after shooting". BBC. 1 October 2021.
  5. "Belarus blocks news site after deaths of dissident, KGB". Associated Press. 29 September 2021.
  6. "Man shot dead by Belarusian KGB worked for US software firm". The Guardian. 30 September 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  7. "Кто вы, Андрей Зельцер? Две версии произошедшего". Kompromat1. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  8. REFORM.by (29 September 2021). "Андрей Зельцер оплачивал госпошлину на право охоты". REFORM.by (in Russian). Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  9. "Belarus Restricts Access To Opposition Website Charter 97". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 25 January 2018.
  10. "The Choice Of Andrei Zeltser". Charter 97. 3 October 2021.
  11. "In Minsk, IT manager Andrei Zelzer was shot dead. Authorities said he killed a KGB officer". BBC (in Russian). 29 September 2021.
  12. "Belarus detains 100 people after KGB shootings: Rights group". Al Jazeera. 1 October 2021.
  13. "Man killed by Belarus security forces worked for U.S.-based EPAM -firm". Reuters. 30 September 2021.
  14. "Что известно об убитом силовиками Андрее Зельцере". Belsat.eu. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  15. "Кто Дмитрий Федосюк, которого якобы застрелил Зельцер". Kliker (in Russian). 29 September 2021. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  16. "Федасюк Дзмітрый Юр'евіч – Узнагароды Беларусі, 2 снежня 2021". Nagrady.by. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  17. "BYPOL назваў імя супрацоўніка КДБ, забітага ўчора ў Менску". Belsat.eu. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  18. "Супрацоўнік КДБ Дзмітрый Федасюк пасмяротна ўзнагароджаны ордэнам "За асабістую мужнасць"". BELTA. 2 December 2021.
  19. "BYPOL назваў імя супрацоўніка КДБ, забітага ўчора ў Менску". Belsat.eu. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  20. "«Дело Зельцера» спустя год: вдова в психбольнице, более двухсот задержанных за комментарии и попытки родных жить дальше". Зеркало (in Russian). 28 September 2022. Retrieved 25 June 2023.
  21. "Что не так с видео перестрелки между сотрудниками КГБ Беларуси и IT-менеджером Зельцером". BBC (in Russian). 29 September 2021.
  22. Furlong, Ray; RFE/RL's Belarus Service; Current Time (29 September 2021). "Gunfight In Minsk: Doubts Raised About Dramatic Video As Two Killed In KGB Raid". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (video). Archived from the original on 26 September 2022.
  23. "Belarusian security forces detain 50 people over social media posts on Minsk shooting: rights group". Reuters. 30 September 2021.
  24. "Belarus detains dozens after KGB agent and opposition supporter killed in shootout captured on camera". CBS. 1 October 2021.
  25. Isachenko, A. (8 October 2021). "Новое уголовное дело TUT.by, массовые задержания за посты о Зельцере: главное в Беларуси за неделю" [New Criminal Case on TUT.by, Mass Detainment for Comments about Zeltser] (in Russian). BBC Russia. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
  26. "Интерпол отказался разыскивать Светлану Тихановскую; Путин и Лукашенко утвердили союзные программы. Главное в Беларуси за неделю" [Interpol Refuses to Search Tikhanovskaya; Putin and Lukashenko Approve Joint Programmes. Main from Belarus] (in Russian). BBC. 3 November 2021. Retrieved 5 November 2021.
  27. "Out of jail! In January, 22 political prisoners were released". spring96.org. 9 February 2023. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  28. "Belarus risks Kremlin's wrath after 'abducting' pro-Putin journalist from Moscow". The Daily Telegraph. 12 October 2021.
  29. Novikova, A. (2 October 2021). "Пропал в Москве, нашелся на Окрестина" [Disappeared in Moscow, Found in Okrestina] (in Russian). Novaya gazeta. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  30. "Russia's Komsomolskaya Pravda daily closes its Minsk office". TASS. 5 October 2021.
  31. "Belarusian authorities detain journalist over interview about Andrey Zeltsar". Belsat. 3 October 2021.
  32. "Pro-Government Reporter Detained in Moscow, Held in Belarus – Activists" (in Russian). The Moscow Times. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  33. ""За убийство столько не дают": коллеги о задержании журналиста "Комсомолки" за статью о Зельцере" ['They Give Less for Murder': Colleagues Worry about Journalist, Detained for Article on Zeltser] (in Russian). BBC Russia. 4 October 2021. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  34. Romashenko, S. (6 October 2021). "Главред "Комсомолки": Журналиста Можейко принудили вернуться в Минск" (in Russian). Komsomolka's Chief Editor Says Mozheiko Was Returned to Minsk by Force. Retrieved 19 October 2021.
  35. "Vladimir Putin: From mean streets to perpetual power". The Times of Israel. 17 March 2018.
  36. "Pro-Lukashenka Gen Belakoneu: It'd be good to kill 20 or 100 persons as reprisal for KGB officer's death". Belsat. 1 October 2021.
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