Belarusian intelligence uses YouTube to recruit Lithuanians, authorities warn

Lithuania’s State Security Department (VSD) on warned that Belarus’ security agency KGB is distributing a video on YouTube in an apparent attempt to recruit potential agents by appealing to dissatisfaction with the Lithuanian government, LRT reports.

According to the VSD, the Lithuanian-language video circulating on social media identifies its author as the Belarusian KGB. The recording refers to problems “caused by the government’s injustice” and invites viewers to discuss them by contacting the Belarusian KGB through a specified “secure channel”.

The VSD urged the public not to fall for what it described as a provocation and not to become involved in the hostile activities of a foreign state, which it said could result in serious criminal liability.

“The VSD reminds that Russian and Belarusian intelligence services actively use social networks to search for potential agents, recruit them and maintain contact with them,” the agency said in a statement.

The department called on residents and organisations to report any suspicions that “hostile states” are attempting to recruit or spy on them.

“Our officers will help assess whether the threat is real. Timely notification of the VSD prevents recruitment and attempts to manipulate or blackmail Lithuanian citizens,” the agency said.

The VSD also invited individuals living in Lithuania who may already have been drawn into activities of Russian or Belarusian intelligence services, or who have received offers to cooperate, to contact the agency and make use of legal provisions allowing exemption from criminal liability in certain circumstances.

By Vafa Guliyeva