«Civil Self-Defence Squads» (OGSB) — a Telegram channel and a chat of the same name, which appeared in September 2020.
On 1 July 2021, Dmitry Sosnovsky told his wife that he had to leave on work business and might not come home that night. This did not raise any suspicion, as the couple have a dacha outside Lida, where Dmitry liked to spend time and do chores. But, unfortunately, Dima never came back home…
On 2 July, Dmitry's wife Oksana was calmly seeing a client at home when her work was suddenly interrupted by three KGB officers who entered the flat uninvited, without ringing or knocking. They said that Dmitry Sosnovsky had been detained on suspicion of an act of terrorism and that a search would now be carried out in the presence of two attesting witnesses whom the KGB officers had brought with them. All attempts to find out what was going on were met with a single answer: «Not allowed». The only thing Dmitry's wife was told was to pack the bare essentials to be handed over to the pre-trial detention centre. Dima's relatives learned all further information only from a report on state television.
Television reported that on 2 July, at a ceremonial meeting in honour of Independence Day, Aliaksandr Lukashenka made a number of statements.
– Today, "sleeper" terrorist cells, the so-called self-defence squads, have been uncovered. The goal of these cells is a violent change of power on X-day. They themselves do not yet know what this X-day is: as they see it, our people and our state need to be brought to it, — Aliaksandr Lukashenka said in his speech, as reported by BELTA.
According to Lukashenka, the "self-defence squads" tried to blow up a Russian Navy communications centre in Vileyka. He said that an incident in this area had recently been discussed in the media, but it never became clear what exactly had happened. According to Lukashenka, he told Vladimir Putin about this event in a phone call.
– We discussed this problem very seriously as well. You understand the result of that discussion. All participants in the terrorist attack, including those who carried it out and organised it, were found and arrested within two days.
Lukashenka named the detainees: Gulevich, Ashurak, Glotov, Gospodarev. They wanted to flee to Ukraine and Lithuania, but their attempts failed.
Those detained in the "OGSB case", except for Gospodarev, about whom there is almost no information
Vadim Nikolaevich Gulevich. According to the ONT film, he is a member of the "OGSB" chat, allegedly detained by KGB officers while trying to plant explosives at a radio communications centre in Vileyka district (the 43rd communications centre of the Russian Navy, one of two Russian military facilities in Belarus). In an interview with «Nasha Niva», Vadim Gulevich's mother said that he works as a programmer, is interested in music and writes songs. In 2020 he was detained twice: on 9 August (released a couple of days later) and in October, for putting up stickers. According to his mother, Vadim was detained near the Ukrainian border.
The film claimed that Gulevich's partner, detained by the KGB during the attempt to blow up the station near Vileyka, was the next person on the KGB's list, Alexey Vladimirovich Glotov. The film claimed that Glotov's duties also included handing over a pistol for an attack on STV channel employee Grigory Azarenok; the weapon was seized at the time of his arrest. Glotov's relatives said that he was detained on his way to work. Alexey Glotov is 43 years old and lives in the agro-town of Kommunar, Buda-Kashaliova district, Homel region, journalists from «Nasha Niva» found out. He was married. He has two sons from his first marriage, but divorced his wife long ago, writes «Nasha Niva». Alexey's mother refused to talk to journalists. She only said that her son had been detained on his way to work. His ex-wife also declined to comment.
Footage of the arrests of "OGSB case" defendants from pro-government channels
Kirill Romanovich Ashurak. His surname also appeared in the ONT film, but little is known about him. The channel claimed that Ashurak was among those originally assigned to blow up the facility in Vileyka, but eventually refused to take part and only helped to scout the area. Aliaksandr Lukashenka mentioned Ashurak among the people who allegedly wanted to flee to Ukraine and Lithuania but were detained by the KGB "Alpha" group. Kirill had previously been detained on 9 August 2020 and gave an interview to «Imena».
People involved in the arrest of the "OGSB case" defendants
At the same meeting, Aliaksandr Lukashenka also stated that there had recently been an attempt to destroy a large amount of logging equipment at forestry enterprises.
– The surname of the perpetrator, who volunteered herself, is N. Matveeva. She was intercepted by the "Alpha" group, arrested and is giving testimony. We will soon show it to you, — he promised. — What was the goal? To set fire to a convoy of vehicles at night, post it on the internet and show: look, we are alive, we are fighting and we will overthrow this regime. That was on 8 June — her arrest. The attempt failed.
The video of the arson was to be posted on the OGSB channel. She was detained back on 8 June 2021 with Molotov cocktails ready — state television claims that this too was part of a special services operation, and that Matveeva was accompanied by a KGB operative posing as an assistant. According to the ONT film, the same operative later took part in the "attempt" on Azarenok.
ONT insists that Matveeva herself came up with the idea of the arson, and that the creator of the OGSB chat, Dis Hoffman, reluctantly agreed. She said this on camera to the state channel after her arrest:
At first Dis approved the idea, and then he rejected it, saying it was boring, that it wouldn't make a splash. We called each other, there were long arguments. [edit cut] Dis gave me very little direction; basically, he entrusted me with planning the operation.
Natalia Matveeva's testimony in a pro-government video
Dmitry Sosnovsky was put on the list of terrorists on the basis of Part 1 of Article 14 (Attempted crime) and Part 1 of Article 359 (Act of terrorism against a state or public figure) of the Criminal Code. ONT called Sosnovsky the perpetrator of that very attack on Grigory Azarenok for which Glotov was supposed to hand over the pistol. The film even included footage of the attack, though in it Sosnovsky is unarmed, and the attack on Azarenok is carried out by a man who, as it turned out, was a security officer. Sosnovsky is known to be a resident of Lida, where he worked as a taxi driver. He was detained in August 2020, on the eve of the election. He was suspected of putting up leaflets, but was later released without punishment.
"And one more attempted crime that may horrify (at least everyone in this hall): an attempt to murder our journalist Grigory Azarenok. This happened last night: 1 July. The goal (I quote) was to immobilise him, seize him, throw him in the boot. Take him to the most remote place in the forest and cut out his tongue. Take scissors so he would do it himself. If he didn't do it himself, the person who had been hired for ten thousand dollars (the money was transferred) was to carry out this operation, film it and post it on the internet," Aliaksandr Lukashenka said.
Lukashenka says the attack took place at night, whereas the "operational footage" was shot in daylight.
Screenshot from a pro-government video after the arrest
According to the report, Dmitry was picked up by his accomplice, who turned out to be an undercover KGB officer. According to his wife, Dmitry left in his own car, which was later seized and which contained both Dmitry's belongings and his wife's. Several months later, they managed to get the car returned. Oksana also noticed that the clothes Dmitry had left home in on 01.07.2021 remained at their dacha. That is, no one picked him up: Dmitry went about his business on his own and even managed to visit his beloved dacha. How the events of his arrest unfolded, and when and how it happened, remains a matter of guesswork. It is also worth noting that the dacha is 70 km from Lida, beyond the town of Iwye, more like a farmstead in the forest, with no neighbours around. The report mentions a location near Valozhyn, where Dmitry allegedly went regularly to conduct active conspiracies. Oksana has no idea why this mythical place is mentioned at all.
Nevertheless, the video features a car in which Dmitry and his accomplice drove to Minsk to carry out the attack on Azarenok.
Screenshots from a pro-government video of the preparation of the attack on Azarenok
A video camera was installed in the car that recorded only Dmitry's face. His accomplice, the KGB officer, had a pistol with him and, judging by the events in the video, it was he who attacked the journalist, while Dmitry Sosnovsky had not even managed to touch anyone before other operatives piled on him.
Screenshot from a pro-government video: a KGB officer with a pistol going to carry out the attack
Actions during the attack on Azarenok
KGB officers knock Dmitry down and pile on top of him
A KGB officer who took part in the provocation
All the detainees, including Dmitry, give testimony on camera in the presence of their lawyers. Next to him is lawyer Evgeny Alekseevich Poberezhnyuk, who was appointed as duty lawyer on the day of the arrest.
Screenshot from a pro-government video
Lawyer Poberezhnyuk put pressure on Dmitry and did everything he could to persuade him to take all the blame, write a full confession and cooperate with the investigation. Moreover, during the first month of his detention Dmitry was left completely without food and basic hygiene products. A month without being able to wash, brush his teeth or change his underwear, while his relatives regularly sent parcels and transferred money. Meanwhile, Poberezhnyuk lied that Dmitry had everything and was feeling fine. It is possible that the lawyers of the other defendants in this story are the same kind of duty lawyers who put pressure on their clients and serve the investigation.
To his relatives, Dmitry's behaviour in the published videos looks strange. They note that he is very nervous, finds it hard to speak, and mixes up words and phrases. They can see that he is under severe emotional strain. Recall that during his first month in the KGB pre-trial detention centre, Dmitry was subjected to unbearable conditions.
Oksana Sosnovskaya notes that the investigators keep replacing one another and, unfortunately, no other names are known. His real lawyers, Galina Valentinovna Ozolina and Vladimir Aleksandrovich Stashkevich, do not share details of the investigation. It is known that Dmitry Sosnovsky is currently facing charges in 4 cases.
Dmitry himself has repeatedly mentioned in his letters to his wife that he really did cross this system and that she could not even imagine who was involved and who was to blame. Perhaps Dmitry is hinting at betrayal by people close to him. It should be noted that Oksana's cousin, Diana Kashtanova, who holds a position at the Babruisk District Executive Committee, may be involved in the case. Moreover, Kashtanova is an active member of the BRSM (Belarusian Republican Youth Union), supports the regime and regularly takes part in propaganda events and gatherings of regime loyalists. Relatives recall that at some point Diana was very insistent in calling, suggesting they meet and inviting herself over, which she had never done before. After Dmitry's arrest, she disappeared and forgot about her family ties. There is no support or help from her. In addition, Diana is closely connected with Dmitry's former best friend, Evgeny Tarasevich. At some point Dmitry and Evgeny stopped talking, and Tarasevich did not support his friend.
How state media identified Denis Hoffman
In addition, a character named Denis Hoffman appears in the pro-government film. Apparently, there really was someone under the nickname «Dis» who administered the OGSB channel. According to users, he did not give any direct instructions; rather, he made users of other Telegram channels administrators. No one ever saw him in person. There are about 8 social media pages with various personal details of users and photos of "Dis" as the page owner. Whether this person is real or not is unknown. After all the special operations, the OGSB channel became inactive.
Who else was detained in the "OGSB case"?
The whereabouts of Astrovtsov and Nazaruk are unknown. Yegor Dudnikov was sentenced to 11 years' imprisonment; in the film he was called an OGSB moderator.
Another defendant in the "OGSB case" is Yury Zenkovich, who was arrested on 12 April 2021. He was accused of conspiracy to seize power. Alexander Feduta was detained on the same day, and Grigory Kostusev a day later.