President awards KGB officers and shares details of the special operation to free Belarusian citizens

31 мая 2022
The head of the state awarded the KGB officers, who participated in the special operation in the territory of Ukraine. Alexander Lukashenko voiced the details of the release of Belarusian citizens (mostly truck drivers), who had been forcibly detained after the outbreak of hostilities. Representatives of the special service were awarded the medal "For Excellence in Military Service" for exemplary performance of military duty and high professionalism. 

The President noted with regret that the two Belarusians, who had actually been taken prisoners, were not lucky enough to return home. Even before the operation of the Belarusian special services, they were killed by the Ukrainians. 

Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Belarus:
I remember then saying that if we do not get the guys back, we will perform a special operation to free our guys. The State Security Committee was instructed to prepare this action and free our people. With your direct participation, under your leadership, this operation was carried out without a single shot being fired. In my opinion, no one in Ukraine has ever figured out how it happened. You brought people back to their families. It is a very noble thing for a military man to do: to bring dozens of people home without noise, without shots fired. So I am extremely grateful to you for what you did.

The special services returned about 70 people from the territory of Ukraine

 In total it was necessary to release about 70 people. According to the secretary of state, the operation had been clearly planned and the KGB employees showed true heroism, carried out all the tasks with honor and dignity.

Alexander Wolfovich, State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus:
The uniqueness of this operation is that they were ready, of course, to use weapons, but the operation was carried out so professionally that they did not fire a single shot and took our citizens out of the territory of a foreign country. They returned these people to their families. Probably many did not expect to see them at home. A number of citizens, unfortunately, were killed. Our officers only brought their bodies. This is also a unique operation to bring the bodies back home.