The relocation of Wagner forces to Belarus following Prigozhin’s aborted rebellion proved to be a propaganda move. Within a year, Lukashenko’s Wagner army, brandished as a threat to neighboring NATO countries, virtually melted away. It also failed to help Lukashenko achieve his objective of foraying into the lucrative mercenary business in Africa.
Elections in Belarus were anything but free, with no opposition candidates or independent observers, and a government disinformation campaign designed to instill fear. The opposition managed, nonetheless, to get its message to at least part of the electorate, and in spite governmental efforts, turnout was lower than expected.
On February 25, Belarus will hold local and legislative elections, the first since the anti-Lukashenko protests of 2020. Minsk clamped down on the opposition in the run up to the elections, and only pro-Lukashenko candidates are competing. Belarus remains firmly in Russia’s orbit.
Poland's military strengthening is a threat to Russia and the goal is to annex western Ukraine, pro-Kremlin propaganda claims.
Latvia is making participation in the state defense service (SDS) mandatory, as part of a larger drive to strenghten its security.
Latvia’s unfinished border fence came into focus following Wagner’s rebellion in Russia and its alleged move to Belarus. Experts warn that security requires more than a fence.
Alexander Lukashenko’s health problems have reminded Belarussians that the dictator is a human being after all. Who will succeed him – will it be a member of the current administration, a representative of the opposition or someone appointed by Moscow?
Poland will attack Belarus and annex the Ukrainian region of Lviv when the order comes from the US and Britain, which caused the war in Ukraine, according to a false narrative by Russian state media. In reality, Warsaw is supporting Ukraine's defense efforts against Russia's full-scale invasion, carried out with the direct support of Minsk.
Alexander Lukashenko’s close ties to the Kremlin have made Belarus a co-aggressor in Russia’s war against Ukraine, which in the future might turn this country into a target of a possible nuclear retaliation. All that was made possible due to the barter Belarussian authorities consented to by allowing Putin to use a strategically important territory in exchange for keeping Lukashenko in office. Yet just how important a part does Belarus play in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict and what does that entail for the future of the region?
Belarus and Russia are forced to create a joint military group to defend themselves against a potential NATO aggression, fascist provocations by Poland and terrorist actions by Ukraine, according to propaganda narratives carried by the two countries’ media. In reality, Belarus is not targeted by any foreign power, but it has allowed Russia to use its territory for the aggression against Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin’s original plan was to subdue Ukraine without bloodshed and create a joint Russian-Ukrainian-Belarusian army that he could use to conquer Baltic States and the Republic of Moldova, the Russian-American expert Yuri Felshtinsky argues, adding that Moscow’s recent actions suggest, despite all the threats, that no nuclear weapons will be used against Ukraine.
Ukraine was preparing to attack Russian and Belarussian troops on the day Russia launched the “special military operation” in Ukraine, Belarus’s president, Alexander Lukashenko says. This false narrative was also picked up by the media in Russia and Belarus.
The chess great spoke with Veridica about his fight for democracy and human rights, the new type of totalitarianism in Russia and what the West should do to stop Putin. Garry Kasparov told us that he is not worried that the regime is trying to eliminate him from textbooks because, in the long run, it is not the dictators who write history. He also said that there is no point in fearing that he will be assassinated because “If someone like Putin decides that you are next on the list, it doesn’t matter if you have protection or not. You go.”
