Lukashenko dismissed the head of the KGB of Belarus

The new head of the secret service was Ivan Tertel, who previously headed the State Control Committee.

Valery Vakulchik, who headed the KGB since 2012, was appointed Secretary of State of the Security Council.

The incumbent President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, dismissed the chairman of the State Security Committee, Lieutenant General Valery Vakulchik. This is reported by the Tut.by edition with reference to the Telegram channel “Pool of the First”, which is close to the press service of the Lukashenko administration, as well as the Telegram channels Nexta and Euroradio.

According to media reports, secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Andrei Ravkov and head of the State Control Committee (KGK) Ivan Tertel were also dismissed from their posts.

Later, the national news agency of Belarus BelTA confirmed the reshuffle and announced new posts, which were taken by two retirees. By Lukashenka’s decision, the former head of the KGB became the secretary of the Security Council, and Tertel, who left the KGK, became the head of the KGB. Vasily Gerasimov, first deputy chairman of the department, has been appointed acting KGC.

It became known about personnel reshuffles in Belarus on the eve of the visit to this country of the delegation of the Russian government, headed by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin.

Vakulchik served as chairman of the KGB since November 2012, and before that headed the Investigative Committee (2011-2012) and the Operative-Analytical Center under the President (2008-2011).

Tertel took over as chairman of the KGC only in June 2020, and before that, for almost 12 years, he was deputy head of the KGB. Ravkov before joining the Security Council (January 2020) was the Minister of Defense of Belarus (since 2014).