Lithuania detains several citizens suspected of spying for Belarus

Several Lithuanian citizens suspected of spying for Belarus were detained last year, according to Lithuanian intelligence agencies.

In the 2023 annual national security threat assessment report, published on Thursday, the agencies also report that Lithuanian diplomats working in Minsk are facing intimidation by Belarusian officers trying to recruit them. Belarusian special services are also targeting the large Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania.

According to the report, several Lithuanian citizens suspected of working with Belarusian intelligence were detained in Lithuania in the second half of 2023.

“The detainees were almost certainly carrying out tasks for Belarusian intelligence and were collecting and passing on information to the client for a fee,” reads the report by the State Security Department and the Second Investigation Department under the Defence Ministry.

According to the General Prosecutor’s Office, the Lithuanian citizens were detained on suspicion of collecting and transmitting unclassified information on the Lithuanian Armed Forces, the National Defence Volunteer Force, the movement and deployment of military equipment, and civilian objects of strategic importance.

None of the persons in question had a clearance to handle classified information, worked with such information, or had a possibility to collect it, the intelligence report said.

“Although the information on the country’s critical infrastructure and military facilities these persons collected and communicated was unclassified, this non-public data could be used by the Belarusian non-democratic regime to plan activities against Lithuania,” the intelligence authorities say.

Intimidated diplomats

Recently, Belarusian intelligence services started to target the staff of the Lithuanian diplomatic mission in Belarus, the report states.

Belarusian intelligence observes the Lithuanian Embassy personnel and collects information about their relations, habits, or anything that could compromise them.

“The collected information or administrative measures are used to intimidate the employees. By carrying out such activities, Belarusian intelligence services aim to recruit Lithuanian diplomatic mission employees and force them to act against Lithuania’s national security interests,” the threat assessment report states.

According to available information, Belarusian intelligence intensively questions people who travel from Lithuania to Belarus and collects information for its activities against Lithuania.

These questionings peaked in 2023 and while their primary purpose is ostensibly to prevent threats to the Belarusian regime, they are also used to gather intelligence and identify individuals with a potential for intelligence activities in Lithuania.

Russian intelligence mistakes

A similar situation is observed on the border with Russia, however, attempts by intelligence services to recruit Lithuanian citizens travelling to Russia are becoming less scrupulous.

Russian intelligence officers are cooperating with the Russian Migration Service and conducting interviews with foreigners at the border to identify suitable targets for recruitment. However, recently there has been an increasing number of cases where proposals for cooperation were made without a proper screening of the candidates or assessment of foreigners’ willingness to cooperate.

“Furthermore, there have been attempts to recruit not only those travelling to Russia but also those in their immediate environment. This pattern of recruitment leads to even more people being exposed to recruitment attempts and willing to report it to Lithuanian intelligence services,” the report reads.

It also states that Lithuanian authorities have already been approached by individuals who have refused to cooperate with the Russian intelligence services, including cases where they were offered to collect unclassified information.

“It is highly likely that the motivation of Russian intelligence officers will further weaken as the Russian military conflict in Ukraine continues. [...] Their negligence will lead to the proliferation of mistakes that will facilitate the work of Lithuanian counter-intelligence authorities in uncovering those involved in criminal activities and revealing methods used by Russia,” the report reads.

Recruitment of diaspora members

According to the threat assessment, Belarusians living in Lithuania are increasingly becoming targets of Belarusian special services.

There are currently about 62,000 Belarusian citizens living in Lithuania, and their number grows by about 15,500 annually.

“Contacts between the Belarusian intelligence and some members of the Belarusian diaspora pose a significant threat to Lithuanian national security, particularly when maintained after they arrive in Lithuania. Belarusian intelligence services exploit former employees of Belarusian state institutions who currently reside in Lithuania,” the report reads.

Belarusian intelligence services have recently begun to establish and re-establish contacts with members of the Belarusian diaspora and recruit new intelligence assets using remote communication methods, according to the report.

“In addition to counter-intelligence threats, the growth of the Belarusian diaspora in Lithuania has brought other challenges. Some members of the diaspora promote radical political ideologies,” the document warns.

Litvinism, a radical branch of Belarusian chauvinism, is provided as one of the examples of this. The followers of Litvisnism deny the Baltic origin of the dukes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and question the affiliation of the Vilnius region to Lithuania.

“A widespread dissemination of such views among the Belarusian diaspora harms the integration of Belarusians into society and could lead to an increase in ethnic tensions. The Belarusian regime conducts information attacks themed around Litvinism to incite confrontation between Belarusians living in Lithuania and Lithuanian society,” Lithuanian intelligence says.

Some members of the Belarusian diaspora also support far-right ideologies.

In late 2023, the Belarusian branch of the international right-wing extremist network Active Club was established in Lithuania.

Active Club is an extremist movement inspired by the American far-right activist Robert Rundo. Its followers combine the promotion of right-wing extremist ideologies and the dissemination of propaganda with martial arts and other physical activities.

Lithuania’s intelligence agencies publish their national security threat assessment every year. The latest document looks into key threats and risk factors to Lithuania’s national security in 2024-2025.