Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushka, who lives in exile in Warsaw, has warned that Belarus could join Russia in the war of aggression against Ukraine.
The Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latuschka fears being drawn into the Ukraine war. “The census of all conscripts in Belarus is practically complete,” Latuschka told the editorial network Germany (RND). The Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko only needs to press the button on orders from the Kremlin to start mobilizing, said Latushka, who used to be his country’s culture minister and is now a member of the cabinet in exile of the Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tichanovskaya.
As Latushka reports, citing sources from Minsk, almost all employees who report to the Belarusian Interior Ministry have been asked to surrender their passports. This information would come from various cities in the country. “This means that these people will no longer be able to leave the territory of Belarus if they are mobilized,” explained Latuschka.
One can observe that the Russian military presence in Belarus is constantly growing. This affects both the number of soldiers and the military equipment. “Military exercises of the Russian armed forces, including exercises on cooperation between the armed forces of Russia and Belarus, are held regularly,” Latushka said. Exercises by the air forces of both countries are planned for the near future.
Latuschka criticized a “strategic mistake” by the West, not paying attention to Lukashenko for six months. “No new sanctions will be imposed and no pressure will be exerted,” complained the opposition politician. In this way, Lukashenko buys time to prepare for the next phase of the war, namely participation in the Russian military offensive from the north towards Ukraine.
At the same time, Lukashenko received “enormous financial resources from Moscow to both maintain the economy and improve the combat effectiveness of the Belarusian armed forces and the production of military weapons,” Latushka said. Once again, the West is making a mistake in assessing Lukashenko’s role in the alliance with Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin
