The State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB RB) is the national

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, Intelligence analysis, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy obj ...

, and secret police force of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

. Along with its counterparts in

Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...

and

South Ossetia South Ossetia, officially the Republic of South Ossetia or the State of Alania, is a landlocked country in the South Caucasus with International recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, partial diplomatic recognition. It has an offici ...

, it kept the unreformed name after declaring independence. It is the successor to the KGB of the Byelorussian SSR, a branch of the Soviet KGB which operated in the Byelorussian republic.

Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (; ; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed Iron Felix (), was a Soviet revolutionary and politician of Polish origin. From 1917 until his death in 1926, he led the first two Soviet secret police organizations, the Cheka a ...

, who founded the first Soviet secret police, the

Cheka The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə, links=yes), ...

, was born in present-day Belarus and remains an important figure in the state ideology of Belarus under president

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

as well as a patron of the Belarusian KGB. It is governed by the law ''About State Security Bodies of the Republic of Belarus''. The KGB has command over the

Alpha Group Spetsgruppa "A", also known as Alpha Group, officially Directorate "A" of FSB Special Purpose Center (Russian: Спецназ ФСБ "Альфа"), is a sub-unit of Russian special forces within the Russian Special Forces Center of the Feder ...

as the main counter-terrorist unit, and they can be tasked to help the

Militsiya ''Militsiya'' ( rus, милиция, 3=mʲɪˈlʲitsɨjə, 5=, ) were the police forces in the Soviet Union until 1991, in several Eastern Bloc countries (1945–1992), and in the Non-Aligned Movement, non-aligned Socialist Federal Republic ...

and other

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

organizations in anti-crime operations.

History

On 1 March 1922, under the auspices Central Executive Committee of the BSSR, a

State Political Directorate The State Political Directorate (), abbreviated as GPU (), was the secret police of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic from February 1922 to November 1923. It was the immediate successor of the Cheka, and was replaced by the Joint ...

is formed. In July 1934, an NKVD republican affiliate was formed in the BSSR. 10 years later, during a reform of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs, the

Committee for State Security of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic The Committee for State Security of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (KGB of the BSSR; ; ) was the main Secret police, state security organization in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. It was a branch of the KGB, Committee for S ...

(

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

of the BSSR) was formed, which would become an independent agency in 1978. On 25 August 1991, the

Supreme Soviet of Belarus The Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus () was the unicameral legislature of Belarus between 1991 and 1996. It was essentially a continuation of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR of 1938–1991 immediately after the Soviet Uni ...

passed the Declaration of State Sovereignty of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic into constitutional law, effectively declaring independence from the USSR. In September 1991, the KGB of the BSSR was renamed to the KGB of the Republic of Belarus, becoming the new national security body of the state. In October of that year, the Supreme Soviet mandated by law that the State Security Committee is subordinate to the

Supreme Council of Belarus The Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus () was the unicameral legislature of Belarus between 1991 and 1996. It was essentially a continuation of the Supreme Soviet of the Byelorussian SSR of 1938–1991 immediately after the Soviet Uni ...

. In order to ensure the security of the new republic, the government provided regulations to the agency in January 1992. Major General

Vadim Zaitsev General Vadim Zaitsev (, , Vadzim Zaytsau; born 16 July 1964) is a Ukrainian-born former head of the KGB of Belarus under president Alexander Lukashenka. Biography Zaitsev was born in Zhytomyr oblast, Ukrainian SSR into a family of a Soviet arm ...

, who was in charge of Lukashenko's personal security, was appointed its leader in July 2008. His tenure lasted until November 2012 and he was replaced by Valery Vakulchik. The KGB is formally controlled by the

President of Belarus The president of the Republic of Belarus is the head of state of Belarus. The office was created in 1994 with the passing of the Constitution of Belarus by the Supreme Council of Belarus, Supreme Council. This replaced the office of Supreme_Counc ...

. Human rights organizations, the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

have accused the KGB of

secret police image:Putin-Stasi-Ausweis.png, 300px, Vladimir Putin's secret police identity card, issued by the East German Stasi while he was working as a Soviet KGB liaison officer from 1985 to 1989. Both organizations used similar forms of repression. Secre ...

activities and

human rights abuses Human rights are universally recognized moral principles or norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both national and international laws. These rights are considered inherent and inalienable, meaning t ...

Organization

The headquarters of the State Security Committee (, ) is located on Independence Avenue at the corner from Komsomolskaya Street. The building was built between 1945 and 1947 by architects Mikhail Parusnikov and Gennady Badanov. The building was erected in the style of

Stalinist Architecture Stalinist architecture (), mostly known in the former Eastern Bloc as Stalinist style or socialist classicism, is the architecture of the Soviet Union under the leadership of Joseph Stalin, between 1933 (when Boris Iofan's draft for the Palace o ...

and

Neoclassicism Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative arts, decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiq ...

. The left wing stretches across Independence Avenue to adjoin the neighboring House of the Minsk Mutual Agricultural Insurance Association.

Structure

* Main Directorate of Counterintelligence Activities * Main Directorate of Economic Security and Anti-Corruption * Main Directorate for Provision of Operational Search Activities * Government Communications Department * Office of Military Counterintelligence (UVKR) Each region has regional divisions: *KGB Directorate for the Brest Region *KGB Directorate for the Vitebsk Region *KGB Directorate for the Grodno Region *KGB Directorate for the Gomel Region *KGB Directorate for the Mogilev Region *KGB Directorate for Minsk and Minsk Region

Chairmen

*Eduard Shirkovsky (30 October 1990 – 25 January 1994) *Gennady Lavitsky (22 February – 21 July 1994) *Vladimir Yegorov (28 July 1994 – 20 December 1995) *Vladimir Matskevich (20 December 1995 – 27 November 2000) *Leonid Erin (27 November 2000 – 18 November 2004) * Stepan Sukhorenko (20 January 2005 – 17 July 2007) * Yuri Zhadobin (17 July 2007 – 15 July 2008) *

(15 July 2008 – 9 November 2012) *

Leonid Maltsev Colonel General Leonid Semyonovich Maltsev (, ; born August 29, 1949) is a retired Belarusian Ground Forces officer. He served as the Minister of Defence of Belarus twice (1995–1996 and 2001–2009) and the Chief of the General Staff of the Arm ...

(9–16 November 2012) * Valery Vakulchik (16 November 2012 – 3 September 2020) * Ivan Tertel (since 3 September 2020)

Role in political repressions

According to human rights organisations in the

, and the

, the KGB and its senior leadership play a key role in human rights violations and political repressions in Belarus. The KGB has maintained both the name, the symbols and some of the repressive functions of its Soviet predecessor, the KGB of the Soviet Union.

International sanctions

Several dozens former Chairmen and senior officers of the KGB of Belarus have been included in the sanctions lists of the

and the

, especially following the brutal crackdown of peaceful protests that followed the allegedly falsified presidential elections of

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

. Against most of them, the sanctions have been lifted in 2016 following an improvement of Belarus–European Union relations. On 2 October 2020, the European Union added former chairman of the KGB Valery Vakulchik, as well as the Deputy Charimen, to its sanctions list. On 6 November, Chairman Ivan Tertel was sanctioned by the EU as well. These people are also subject to the restrictive measures by the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Canada. The KGB Alpha Group was placed under US Treasury Department sanctions for their role in suppressing the 2020-21 protests. On 21 June 2021, the

U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

has added the KGB of Belarus and its Chairman Ivan Tertel to its

Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List The Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List, also known as the SDN List, is a United States government sanctions/embargo measure targeting U.S.-designated terrorists, officials and beneficiaries of certain authoritarian regimes, a ...

with the following motivation:

The State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (Belarusian KGB) has continually pressured and targeted the opposition in the aftermath of the fraudulent 2020 election. The Belarusian KGB has detained, intimidated, and otherwise pressured the opposition, to include Pratasevich. In November 2020, the Belarusian KGB added Pratasevich and another opposition journalist to its list of terrorists.

In 2022, the KGB and Tertel were included in the sanctions lists of the European Union, the United States, Switzerland and Japan, while Ukraine blacklisted only Tertel. In January 2025, Canada joined the sanctions against the KGB.

KGB officers sanctioned by the EU or the US

Chairmen and Deputy Chairmen

* Stepan Sukhorenko, Chairman of the KGB in 2005–2007, including during the

2006 Belarusian presidential election Presidential elections were held in Belarus on 19 March 2006. The result was a victory for incumbent, President Alexander Lukashenko, who received 84.4% of the vote. However, Western world, Western observers deemed the elections rigged. The Organ ...

. On EU sanctions list in 2006–2016; remains under sanctions by the

. *

, Chairman of the KGB. According to the decision of the

, he is “responsible for transforming the KGB into the main organ of repression of civil society and of the democratic opposition” and for state propaganda accusing the protesters of bringing weapons to their rally.” According to the EU, Zaitsev “personally threatened the lives and health of the wife and child of former

presidential candidate A candidate, or nominee, is a prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position. For example, one can be a candidate for membership in a group or election to an office, in which case a ...

Andrei Sannikov Andrei Olegovich Sannikov (or Andrei Sannikau, , , born 8 March 1954) is a Belarusian politician and activist. In the early 1990s, he headed the Belarusian delegation on Nuclear and Conventional Weapons Armament Negotiations, also serving as a Be ...

. He is the main initiator of orders for unlawful harassment of democratic opposition, the

torture Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons including corporal punishment, punishment, forced confession, extracting a confession, interrogational torture, interrogation for information, or intimid ...

of political opponents and the mistreatment of prisoners.” * Vasily Dementei, First Deputy Chairman of the KGB; included in the EU sanctions list after crackdown of protests that followed the controversial presidential election of 2006. * Igor Bakhmatov, former Deputy Chairman of the KGB in charge of the staff and the organisation of their tasks, responsible for the repressive work of the KGB against civil society and democratic opposition. * Vasili Dementey, former First deputy Chairman of the KGB (2005–2007); responsible for repressions against civil society and the democratic opposition, in particular after the presidential election of 2006 and in 2007. * Viktor Vegera, First Deputy Chairman of the KGB. * Leonid Dedkov, Deputy Chairman of the KGB. * Nikolai Smolenski, former Deputy Chairman of the KGB. * Nikolai Svorob, former Deputy Chairman of the KGB. * Petr Tretiak, former Deputy Chairman of the KGB and Member of the Commission of the Security Council on radio frequencies. * Ivan Tertel, Deputy Chairman of the KGB, in charge of economic crime and the fight against corruption.

Torture

* Colonel Aleksandr Orlov, head of the KGB detention centre in Minsk: according to the EU, he was personally responsible for "cruel,

inhuman and degrading treatment Cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (CIDT) is treatment of persons which is contrary to human rights or dignity, but is not classified as torture. It is forbidden by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Hu ...

or punishment of detainees" in the weeks and months after the crackdown on the protests in Minsk on 19 December 2010, on the eve of the 2010 presidential election. He has been on EU sanctions list between 2011 and 2016. * Colonel Oleg Chernyshev; he allegedly personally participated in tortures of opposition activists in the KGB detention centre in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

after the crackdown on the post-election protest demonstration in

on 19 December 2010. * Lieutenant Colonel Dmitri Sukhov, operative of the military counter-intelligence of the KGB; accused of falsifying evidence and using threats in order to extort confessions from detained opposition activists in the KGB detention centre in Minsk after the crackdown on the post-election protest demonstration in Minsk on 19 December 2010. * Lieutenant Colonel Pavel Traulko, former operative of the military counter-intelligence of the KGB, then head of the press service of the newly formed Investigative Committee of Belarus. He is accused of falsifying evidence and using threats in order to extort confessions from opposition activists in the KGB detention centre in Minsk after 19 December 2010. According to the EU, he was directly responsible for the use of “cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment and for denying the right to a fair trial”.

Sector (Board) commanders

* Viktor Yaruta, Head of the KGB Board on State Communications * Valeri Maslakov, Head of the KGB Board of Intelligence * Sergei Shugaev, Head of the KGB Counter-Intelligence Division and former Deputy Head of the KGB Counter-Intelligence Board * Ivan Sanko, Major, senior investigator of the KGB * Aleksandr Tolstashov, Head of the KGB Board on Protection of the Constitutional Order and Fight Against Terrorism * Igor Voropaev, former Head of the KGB Board on State Communications * Sergei Volkov, former Head of the KGB Board of Intelligence * Alexey Zakharov, former Head of Military Counter-intelligence Board of the KGB

Regional commanders

In 2011, commanders of the KGB in the regions of Belarus were accused by the EU of being responsible for political repressions in their regions: * Igor Busko, Head of the KGB of the Brest Region * Gennadi Gerasimenko, former Head of the KGB of the Vitebsk Region * Vladimir Kalach, Head of the KGB of the Minsk Region and the city of

, former Deputy Head of the KGB for Minsk * Ivan Korzh, Head of the KGB of the Hrodna Region * Igor Kuznetsov, former Head of the KGB in the Minsk Region and in

city * Ivan Leskovski, Head of the KGB for

Homel Gomel (, ) or Homyel (, ) is a city in south-eastern Belarus. It serves as the administrative centre of Gomel Region and Gomel District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it is the second-largest city in ...

and former Deputy Head of the KGB for Homel * Igor Sergeenko, Head of the KGB of the City District of

Mahiliou Mogilev (; , ), also transliterated as Mahilyow (, ), is a city in eastern Belarus. It is located on the Dnieper River, about from the border with Russia's Smolensk Oblast and from Bryansk Oblast. As of 2024, it has a population of 353,110. In ...

International activity

A cooperation deal between the

State Security Service of Georgia The State Security Service of Georgia (SSSG; ka, სახელმწიფო უსაფრთხოების სამსახური ''SUS is a state intelligence agency of Georgia, under the authority of the Government, which cover ...

and the KGB was signed in 2016 and came into force in 2021. At the time it came into force, their relationship was criticized over the KGB's role in suppressing the

2020–2021 Belarusian protests The 2020–2021 Belarusian protests were a series of mass Demonstration (political), political demonstrations and protests against the Government of Belarus, Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. The largest anti-government ...

. In January 2021,

EUobserver ''EUobserver'' is a European online newspaper, launched in 2000 by the Brussels-based organisation EUobserver.com ASBL. The newspaper provides both daily reports and in-depth coverage on international affairs related to the European Union (EU). ...

published an audio file, allegedly being a secret recording of a meeting that took place in 2012 between then KGB head Vadim Zaitsev and several

officers, discussing plans to assassinate several exiled enemies of the Lukashenka regime: whistleblower

Aleh Alkayeu Aleh is a transliteration from Belarusian language, Belarusian Алег of the Eastern Slavic name Oleg. It is sometimes spelled as "Aleg". Notable people with the name include: Surname *Jo Aleh (born 1986), New Zealand sailor, national champion, w ...

, colonel Uladzimir Baradach and anti-corruption chief Viachaslau Dudkin, as well as journalist

Pavel Sheremet Pavel Grigorievich Sheremet (, , 28 November 1971 – 20 July 2016) was a Belarusian-born Russian and Ukrainian journalist who was imprisoned by the government of Belarus in 1997, sparking an international incident between Belarus and Russia. ' ...

. Sheremet was eventually murdered in a manner as discussed by the persons on the tape four years after the alleged recording date, in 2016. On 1 December 2021, US-based

Meta Meta most commonly refers to: * Meta (prefix), a common affix and word in English ( in Greek) * Meta Platforms, an American multinational technology conglomerate (formerly ''Facebook, Inc.'') Meta or META may also refer to: Businesses * Meta (ac ...

announced that 41 fake accounts on Facebook and 4 on Instagram belonging to Belarusian KGB were removed. The accounts criticised the actions of Poland during

Belarus–European Union border crisis In August 2021, the government of Belarus began sponsoring an influx of migrants, mostly from the Middle East and North Africa, to the borders of Lithuania, Poland and Latvia. Although Belarus denied involvement, both the European Union and inde ...

in English, Polish and Kurdish, while pretending to be journalists and activists. On 10 April 2022, Meta reported that Internet accounts linked to KGB on the first day of the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

tried to spread fake news about the surrender of Ukrainian army and flight of Ukrainian authorities.

Notes

References

External links

Official site of the State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus
{{DEFAULTSORT:Belarus, State Security Agency Law enforcement agencies of Belarus Domestic intelligence agencies Secret police Torture in Belarus KGB of Belarus KGB Belarusian entities subject to U.S. Department of the Treasury sanctions Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List