Lukashenko reveals explosive details about the army
The original article: merkur.de
Minsk/Moscow - Poland is ceaselessly warning of an alleged threat from Belarus in the Ukraine war. "The security situation in the east has been unstable for a long time and Poland has to cope with a whole spectrum of threats from this direction," Deputy Foreign Minister Arkadiusz Mularczyk told Bild.
Belarus: Putin ally does not want war with Ukraine, says expert.
Recently, events came to a head: Not far from the militarily explosive Suwalki corridor between Poland, the Baltic States, Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, around 100 Wagner mercenaries were first sighted. In the past few days, hundreds of Wagner mercenaries then left Belarus unexpectedly after Yevgeny Prigozhin's people were said to have left for Belarus.
But that's not all: according to a Minsk insider, it is not the Belarusian army, and certainly not Belarusian society, that has any interest in getting into a conflict with the Nato defence alliance or with Ukraine. This is what Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushka told IPPEN.MEDIA's fr.de. Furthermore, according to his information, Russia has hardly any troops stationed in the country.
Are threats by Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko thus coming to nothing? Joint military training centres are currently being set up at the air base in Baranovichi and at the air defence base near Grodno in Zyabrovka. But: "Almost all Russian soldiers who trained in Belarus before the war have left the territory of Belarus," says Latushka.
Vladimir Putin threatens Ukraine: But would Belarusian army not be ready for war?
Is a threat scenario for Kiev from Belarus thus becoming obsolete? Even if Moscow strongman Vladimir Putin and his circle have repeatedly hinted at this since spring 2022?
"As far as the army is concerned, there are different views. This is because the army is under a massive brainwashing attack (from the Minsk regime, ed.). If we talk about the special forces, they are for the most part ready to support Lukashenko, and possibly even to go to war against Ukraine," Latushka explains: "But if we talk about the regular armed forces, they are for the most part against the war. And as for the recruits: they come from a society that has an anti-war sentiment. That's why Lukashenko made the decision not to participate in the war, but to make the territory of Belarus available to Russian troops for military aggression against Ukraine - for missile attacks and air strikes.»
"Lukashenko fears that at least part of the Belarusian army would oppose him and that this could lead to the fall of the regime".
Pavel Latushka, Belarusian opposition activist at IPPEN.MEDIA
Ukraine war: Alexander Lukashenko fears for his regime in Belarus, says expert
Lukashenko did not dare to send troops across the Belarusian-Ukrainian border, the country's former culture minister (2009 to 2012) continues: "Not because he loves Ukraine and has a positive attitude towards Ukrainians. But only because he fears that at least part of the Belarusian army would oppose him and that this could lead to the fall of the regime. This is shown by the data of two sociological surveys conducted by analytical centres of the Belarusian intelligence service in 2022 within the army. These data are available to us.
Russian influence on Belarus: Expert raises accusations against Putin's regime in Moscow.
In his opinion, the Russians are allegedly interested in "the Belarusian state and nation ceasing to exist". Lukashenko is nothing more than a "puppet of the Kremlin" in this goal of Moscow, Latushka says in an interview with IPPEN.MEDIA's fr.de: "We are fighting for the existence of our state, for the existence of our nation, for the choice of Belarusians for Europe."