Ukraine’s security service holds counter-sabotage drill near Belarus

February 13, BPN. The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted counter-sabotage training in the Rivne region’s districts bordering Belarus.

The goal was to improve security near the border, the SBU’s press office said in a press release on February 13.

The scenario involved “saboteurs” dressed in civilian clothes secretly entering the region. “They captured the City Council in a district center near the Belarusian border and took hostage all the employees present there. Using psychological pressure and threats of physical violence, the ‘attackers’ tried to force the ‘victims’ to cooperate with the enemy and restructure the work of the City Council in favor of the aggressor country,” the SBU said.

According to Ukraine’s intelligence agency, the exercise was close to real-life circumstances and involved “a significant number of defense forces and military and special equipment, including unmanned aerial vehicles.”

The previous SBU exercises on the border with Belarus took place on January 13. Troops practiced to detain a sabotage and reconnaissance group trying to break through Ukraine’s northern border to an energy facility in the Rivne region.

For its part, Belarus’ State Border Committee regularly reports downing or intercepting UAVs flying from Ukraine to the rear of the Belarusian positions. For example, on February 8, Pinsk border guards used an anti-drone gun to down an UAV in the Brest region’s Stolin district.

In 2022, according to the committee, similar cases were recorded on November 2 and 16, as well as on December 1.