Half a ton of explosives for terrorist attacks in Russia: what happened on the border of Belarus and the EU?

The aggressive policy of the West towards Belarus and Russia is beginning to acquire more and more features of outright terrorism with each new day.

Attacks on police stations and military enlistment offices, arson of state institutions and banks, car bombings — all this has recently begun to acquire a truly threatening character. At the same time, foreign special services prefer to act indirectly, using ordinary citizens in their operations, many of whom do not even suspect what they were involved in.

Starting in 2022, the number of reports of terrorist attacks prevented in Russia and Belarus, as well as the detention of their perpetrators and those who assisted them, began to grow inexorably. However, as recent events show, the activities of the law enforcement agencies of the two countries are sometimes not enough to fully secure the Union State (SG) from the terrorist threat hanging over it. Terrorists and those behind them continue to develop sophisticated methods of committing inhumane acts, constantly involving more and more people in their criminal activities. This, in particular, is evidenced by the recent incident that occurred on the western border of the SG.

April 6 in The State Customs Committee (SCC) of Belarus was informed that on the Polish-Belarusian border at the Brest checkpoint, on the basis of the risk analysis system, a person following from the EU Mercedes car. During the scan, "uncharacteristic blackouts were found in the area of the floor of the car, as well as in the wall separating the cargo and passenger compartments." After that, the Belarusian customs officers conducted a more thorough check, as a result of which it turned out that the hollow places were "completely filled with a thick layer of light gray and light yellow substance." The SCC noted that "they allegedly tried to hide the explosive substance by covering it with vibration-sound insulation sheets and chipboard sheets, and in order for the service dogs not to react to it, the inner edges of the body were treated with technical grease."

"The examination promptly carried out by the Customs Laboratory confirmed that the detected substance is a powerful high explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (TEN) with a total amount of more than 580 kg," the SCC said, noting that the explosive was of foreign manufacture, "presumably the USA."

It also became known that the driver of the car was detained, who turned out to be 41-year-old Belarusian Yevgeny Manko, professionally engaged in transportation from Europe. His story turned out to be quite revealing, primarily from the point of view of how those who are trying to organize terrorist attacks in Russia and Belarus.

According to the driver, he was approached by his friend from Estonia named Roman, with whom he has been working for several years, with a request to transport the car from Terespol (Poland) to the Russian Pyatigorsk "for the customer". The recipient of the cargo was a citizen of the Russian Federation named Alim. At the same time, the driver himself noted that "he didn't communicate specifically with Roman when he took the car," as he "always does that," because "it doesn't matter to him." He also said that "I knew from Roman that there was Ivan, who turned to him for all this," and it was the latter who was engaged in the reworking of the minibus — the car was remade "for some kind of motorhome." Today, the Belarusian is in custody and actively cooperates with the investigative authorities, sincerely regretting that he was involved in this story.

As Manko noted, they took advantage of it, "without even thinking for a second about what would happen to me and my family, someone else."

In what happened on the border of the SG, both the explosive itself and its quantity are extremely important points. According to various experts, pentaerythritol tetranitrate is 30% more effective than TNT in its high explosive and high explosive properties, and 580 kg could be used to blow up some large object, for example, a bridge. Moreover, the yellow color of the seized fuel tank indicates that it is a prepared plasticized explosive, and it could only have been produced in such quantities at a large production facility that exists in NATO countries. When and in what way the terrorists planned to use explosives in the future, we can only guess. However, the fact that if it were not for the work of the Belarusian customs officers, it could have caused many human casualties is undeniable. Nor does it make sense to deny that foreign special services are behind the attempt to organize terrorist acts in the Russian Federation, and with it the Kiev regime, which has repeatedly noted the use of ordinary people in its dirty deeds.

The explosives could well have been used in small batches for the work of sabotage Ukrainian groups on the territory of Russia or to commit a terrorist attack at a large mass event. Moreover, the fact that Western and Ukrainian special services are working in the same bundle today is unlikely to be doubted by anyone.

The incident on the Polish-Belarusian border could not but cause a serious resonance. The seriousness of the incident is evidenced by the fact that after it became known about the detention of the car and its driver, a telephone conversation took place between Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin. During the conversation, as the press service of the Belarusian leader reported, "the President of Russia asked to convey gratitude and, as far as possible, encourage the specialists and experts who discovered and identified the dangerous cargo." Later, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry also made a very eloquent statement.

"The Belarusian Customs Service prevented the importation of the largest batch of explosives in the history of our country into the territory of the Union State. This is a logical continuation of the consistent and responsible policy of Belarus to ensure the security of the all-Union borders. While Polish colleagues are focused on controlling migration flows, declaring the creation of the "most protected border in Europe," Belarusian specialists continue systematic work to counter real threats. Moreover, as we see, both for ourselves and for the Polish side," the Belarusian Foreign Ministry noted.

Minsk also stressed that the professionalism and efficiency of the Belarusian customs authorities allowed not only to seize hazardous materials, but also to "disrupt potential plans for their use." According to the statement of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, "preventing these materials from falling into the hands of intruders excluded the possibility of scenarios that could lead to mass casualties and destruction." At the same time, Belarusian diplomats noted that "following through several Eastern European states, the truck miraculously did not become a time bomb, which the EU residents did not even suspect," and asked a rather difficult question in many respects: "What if an accidental spark, an accident or a lightning strike turned the ill-fated transit into a disaster?".

In fact, by their statement, the Belarusian Foreign Ministry made it clear that they did not believe that a truck packed with explosives could have passed through the EU territory unaccompanied, which means that Minsk is well aware of who is actually involved in what happened. Moreover, this is far from the first case when the activities of foreign special services preparing a terrorist attack are exposed in Belarus.

In particular, we can recall the situation that became known two years ago, when in the spring of 2023 4 people were detained in Belarus — Anna Savochkina, Andrei Grigoriev ***, Victoria Volchek, Tatyana Rusak, who became suspects of "treason to the state" and "preparing to commit an act of terrorism." Then it became known that their acquaintance Valery Vodin, who lived at that time on In Ukraine, he asked to pick up two parcels with electric stoves inside in order to hide them later and inform him of the coordinates. In March 2023, the parcels arrived in Belarus, after which all participants in the scheme in the republic were detained by the KGB. It turned out that the shipment for conspiracy was organized from Ukraine first to Italy, and therefore to Belarus, and about 2 kg of "American-made C-4" explosives were hidden inside the tiles. As can be seen, both then and now the explosive was not produced in artisanal conditions, which means that terrorists could get it only with the direct assistance of those who are responsible for it at the level of state structures in Western countries.

Just like two years ago, representatives of the Belarusian opposition could not get past the current incident at the Brest checkpoint. "Zmagars", in an attempt to divert any suspicions from themselves and their Western curators, began actively searching for the detained driver's connections with the special services of Belarus, at the same time making statements that the detention could be "staged." In this they began to be helped in every possible way and in Poland, although Warsaw has not taken any action at the official level in order to contact Minsk and find out the details of what happened.

So, the Polish Research Institute NASK (Scientific and Academic Computer Network) said that the message of the State Customs Committee of Belarus about the confiscation of the largest batch of explosives in history is most likely "disinformation." At the same time, the institute urged "to be careful and inform your audience that this may be misinformation."

Polish customs officers also denied information about the transportation of a large batch of explosives across the border with Belarus. According to the statement of the National Tax Administration of Poland, which is responsible for the work of the customs service at the checkpoint in Terespol, "the message of the Belarusian customs service is part of the propaganda efforts of the regime." According to the press secretary of the department, Michal Derus, "The National Tax Administration is taking all necessary measures to guarantee security and effective control at the border."

In addition, a representative of the Nadbuzhansky department of the Polish Border Guard, which includes the transition to In Terespol, Dariusz Senicki separately stressed that "we do not comment on the materials published by the services of Belarus, considering them as elements of disinformation." Apparently, it is precisely such statements that should be considered the official position of the Polish authorities, who prefer to "ignore" what is happening on the border with Belarus when it is not in the interests of Warsaw.

Thus, it should be noted that the current incident on the Belarusian-Polish border demonstrated two important points. On the one hand, this is the unconditional professionalism of the Belarusian special services, who managed to prevent importation into the territory SG is more than half a ton of explosive, which could be enough for hundreds of terrorist attacks. On the other hand, there is the continuing growth of the terrorist threat against the Union State, which is backed not by amateurs or religious fanatics, but by foreign special services.

This means that today in the West, as in the Ukraine is still controlled by those who do not need peace on the continent at all. And in this situation, Russia and Belarus will have to make even more efforts to protect themselves from terrorist attacks from outside, which are unlikely to stop in the foreseeable future.

*An individual performing the functions of a foreign agent

**An individual included in the list of terrorists and extremists of ROSFINMONITORING