Polish spies sentenced to 7-10 years in prison
Four former Belarus military officers were today found guilty by the Supreme Court of Belarus of state treason in a form of espionage and sentenced to 7-10 years in prison, reports the official news agency Belta. Air Force and Air Defense officer Uladzimir Ruskin has received 10 years of imprisonment. Major Viktar Bogdan, the chief of intelligence at one of the air defense brigades, is sentenced to 9 years in prison. Officers Siargey Karniliuk and Pavel Piatkevich get 7 years each.
All four will serve their terms in a high-security correctional colony. Under the court ruling, all four have been stripped of their military ranks.
The spies were arrested at the Belarus-Poland border early this year after the Belarus counter-intelligence agents found classified materials on Uladzimir Ruskin when he was trying to smuggle them into Poland. The Belarus's security service KGB announced about the disclosure of the Polish military intelligence spy ring last summer.
The KGB said that the foreign intelligence was interested in military and strategic facilities in Belarus and Russia, associated with the air defense components of the two countries.
All four will serve their terms in a high-security correctional colony. Under the court ruling, all four have been stripped of their military ranks.
The spies were arrested at the Belarus-Poland border early this year after the Belarus counter-intelligence agents found classified materials on Uladzimir Ruskin when he was trying to smuggle them into Poland. The Belarus's security service KGB announced about the disclosure of the Polish military intelligence spy ring last summer.
The KGB said that the foreign intelligence was interested in military and strategic facilities in Belarus and Russia, associated with the air defense components of the two countries.
