KGB detains ex-Lukashenka's security chief

The Belarusian state security organization KGB has detained the deputy head of the Security Council and the former chief of President Lukashenka’s personal security service Andrei Vtyurin, reports Nasha Niva. KGB’s website contains no official statement about the detention.

When asked by a Euroradio reporter about the possible detention of the high-ranking official, KGB’s spokesperson said laconically: "No comment." 

Utyurin’s son Anton deleted his Twitter account immediately after the news about his father’s detention, an indirect proof that the detention could have taken place indeed.

According to media reports, a criminal case was opened against Vtyurin, while his villa in the VIP neighborhood Drozdy-2 was sealed off. Unofficial sources suggest the powerful official was detained one week ago in connection with graft – reportedly in amount of $150 000.

Andrei Vtyurin was born in the Russian city of Penza in 1971. In 1992, he graduated from the Higher Police Academy of the Russian Federation in Saratov. In 2002, he graduated from Belarus’ Police Academy. In 1995, he joined the President’s Security Service and was promoted to the head of the service in 2007. In 2014, he was appointed as a Deputy State Secretary of the Security Council. He was awarded with the state orders – For Immaculate Service and For Service to Motherland.