Ex-political prisoner says Belarusian KGB recruited him to spy in Poland

Ex-political prisoner Vadzim Pashkouski has revealed that he was recruited by KGB officers and sent to Poland to carry out certain assignments. He admitted this to human rights defenders at Homielskaya Vyasna.

The 23-year-old from Zhlobin was punished for participating in protest actions under Article 342 of the Criminal Code (participation in actions that disturb public order). The criminal case was opened four years later — when he was identified in photographs. Pashkouski initially served his sentence on "khimiya" (supervised community work) in Hrodna, and was later transferred to Shklow correctional colony No. 17.

After his release in December 2025, he managed to find employment at a private enterprise of the international concern Kronospan in Mahilyow. By training, the young man is an engineer specialising in the development of technological processes. When he tried to resign, he was approached by two men in civilian clothes who took him to the KGB directorate for Mahilyow region. They wanted to know whether Pashkouski had received assistance from human rights defenders and whether he had received food parcels.

"Then they took me to another building, where I underwent a polygraph test. There they asked whether I was connected to foreign intelligence services, whether I was engaged in extremist activities, and so on. After the polygraph, they drove me to the rented flat where I lived in Mahilyow. There they conducted a search. But it was done without witnesses, without any warrants — they simply came in and turned everything upside down. They took my laptop and phone", the young man recalls.

He was then told they could charge him with industrial espionage, as many drawings and files related to production had been found on his computer. Pashkouski was presented with a choice: "Either 15 years, or you'll have to help the country".

When the ex-political prisoner agreed to cooperate, he was told he needed to go to Poland, "just live there, socialise with people and periodically tell them how things are going and who I'm associating with".

The KGB officers also tried to use Pashkouski to find out about aid channels. Under their dictation, he wrote a request for a payment from the BySol solidarity fund. However, they wanted him to open an account abroad — and ultimately nothing came of it.

Then, at the KGB's prompting, Vadzim contacted the human rights defenders at Vyasna, who helped him obtain a humanitarian visa to travel to Poland. "Before I received the visa, at the next meeting they began giving me specific instructions. They told me that when I arrived, I should not tell anyone about the cooperation, just live there, legalise my status and build up contacts. They explained the method of communication — via Telegram and VPN", the ex-political prisoner recounts.

The young man says he did not warn those he was in correspondence with because he was afraid his phone had spyware installed on it. He arrived in Poland on 3 October and decided to immediately disclose that he had been recruited: "I want to publicly declare what happened to me and refuse any further cooperation with the KGB of Belarus".