Spying suspect tells court Belarusian agent was interested in US planes landing in Vilnius

It is believed that Kurulenko was interested in the alleged CIA prison in Lithuania. Lipskij, however, said during the Friday court hearing that he had no such information.

According to Lipskij, he met Kurulenko at a seminar for insurance agents at the-then Hotel Villon outside Vilnius in around 2009-2010. Kurulenko resumed contact with him more than a year and a half later, initially asking for business advice and later looking for ways to get employed at Vilnius Airport.

Lipskij said Kurulenko blackmailed him and said he had allegedly recorded their previous conversation and threatened to use it against Lipskij, that he would lose his job at the airport, if he refused to provide classified information to Kurulenko.

Lithuanian officers have records of Kurulenko giving Lipskij 150 litas (around EUR 44).

Pressured by Kurulenko, Lipskij said he made photos of documents concerning three projects, including the construction of a building, the sewage system leading to it and the reconstruction of an airport runway.

“There was no classified information there. If I told it to my friend, and not a Belarusian, I would not be a spy,” Lipskij told Vilnius Regional Court.

Lipskij is now on trial for spying for Belarus. On 10 November 2014, the Lithuanian Prosecutor General‘s Office and the State Security Department said Lipskij was charged with spying for Belarus. The court was presented with seven volumes of case materials, including 1,300 documents and 26 storage devises with various audio and video recordings.

Lipskij denies any wrongdoing. He is facing up to 15 years in prison.