Border crossing Kuznitsa-Bruzgi on the Polish-Belarusian borderMINSK, Jan 19The Polish side distorts the situation with damage to the Belarusian coat of arms on the border of the two countries, gives the incident «an informational impulse, using the tactics of more stuffing and less truth,» Anton Bychkovsky, official representative of the state border committee of the republic, told RIA Novosti on Wednesday. border, damage was found to the border pillar and the shield with the image of the state emblem of Belarus in the form of holes, presumably from metal balls found nearby. A criminal case has been initiated under the article «desecration of state symbols.» The State Border Committee of Belarus said that it had informed the Polish side about the damage to the coat of arms. The Belarusian department called the shelling of the Belarusian border post by Poland a provocation. Meanwhile, the Polish border service stated that they recorded how the Belarusian security forces removed several shields with the coat of arms from the border posts, and «then, a few hours later, they arrived and filming began.» They also said that earlier Minsk had refused a meeting to clarify the situation with the damage to the coat of arms on the border pillar. «Poland purposefully gives this incident an informational impulse, using its own proven tactics — more stuffing and less truth,» Bychkovsky said. The Belarusian Border Committee noted, that the Polish side is spreading false information about the incident with border markers, and also distorts the real picture of what happened. «The video presented (by the Polish side — ed.) to the public clearly shows not employees of the border service, but representatives of the investigative group, which arrived after the damage to the border pillar of the Republic of Belarus by shots from the Polish side,» Bychkovsky said. He recalled that in the circumstances of the incident, the investigation is under investigation within the framework of the criminal case, and, «naturally, the damaged shield was seized and attached to the materials of the investigation of this incident.» >Poland asked NATO to continue the exercises because of the maneuvers in Belarus «An investigative and operational group consisting of employees of the Investigative Committee of Belarus, the police, the state committee of forensic examinations, and the border committee worked at the scene,» the source said. According to him, with the use of photofixation, an inspection of the border sign No. 667 with the image of the state emblem of Belarus, located along the Belarusian-Polish border in the area of the border outpost «Usovo» near the village of Kaleta, Grodno region, was carried out, a trace picture was recorded, the presence of at least eight damages was established. In order to establish the possible flight path of the balloons and subsequent removal, a section of the adjacent forest area was also examined. «Witnesses have been interrogated, the necessary expert studies have been appointed. The investigation of the criminal case continues,» Bychkovsky said. Regarding the damaged border signs on another section of the border with Poland, Bychkovsky noted that the Polish side is well aware of this situation. «Even at the weekend, when it was revealed that there were no shields with coats of arms of three more Belarusian border pillars, our colleagues were informed in the established order through all possible channels,» he said. The representative of the State Border Committee drew attention to the fact that «according to established practice, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, working meetings on such situations have not been held lately. «The settlement of border incidents is carried out as part of the correspondence of the office of border commissioners,» he specified.
The Investigative Committee of Belarus opened a case due to damage to the coat of arms on the border with Poland «According to the Polish border guards, the Polish representatives were informed through all channels that in addition to this incident, on January 15, the Belarusian side recorded the absence of shields with coats of arms on three more border pillars. «According to bilateral agreements, each party is obliged to notify the adjacent party about the observed facts of damage to signs or their elements. The Polish servicemen, who visually observed the damage or the absence of shields on the Belarusian border pillars, in no case informed the Belarusian side,» Bychkovsky stated.
