As many as 10,000 work for Belarus’ KGB – Russian intelligence journal

January 9, BPN. The Belarusian Committee for State Security (KGB) staff “does not exceed 10,000 people,” says Russian quarterly Razvedchik with links to Russia’s foreign intelligence service.

The Belarusian KGB is constantly expanding its foreign ties and had contacts with at least 46 foreign intelligence agencies in early 2022, it noted. The KGB also coordinates its work with Russia’s foreign intelligence, including in crucial areas such as identifying and suppressing Western subversive acts, ensuring information security and fighting hybrid threats, the journal said.

Russia’s Academy of Foreign Intelligence trains Belarusian agents, it added.

Back in 2012, Alaksandr Łukašenka suggested that the KGB staff should be compact, down to 3,000, but its officers should be “the most loyal” to him. Authorities have never released any official numbers.