Putin likely to lose another 'ally'
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Not only did the Belarusians balk at participating in the oppression of their neighbors, they reportedly staged unprecedented levels of sabotage and passive resistance to slow the Russians down as well. Reportedly, his top military officers threatened to resign if Lukashenko ordered them to fight in Ukraine. Some went anyway, but not to fight for the Russians:
Meanwhile, hundreds of Belarusians have taken up arms in Ukraine against Russia as part of a brigade dubbed the Kastus Kalinouski Battalion, named after a 19th century Belarusian national hero. Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Belarusian dissident Veranika Yanovich explained why she and her husband joined the outfit.
“The motivation is very simple,” she said. “Lukashenko is very dependent on Russia, and the death of dictatorship in Russia will mean the death of the dictatorial regime of Lukashenko.”
By making a national hero out of Zelensky, and also by demonstrating the ineptitude and incompetence of the Russian military, Putin has apparently resurrected not just Ukrainian nationalism but Belarusian nationalism as well. The situation for Belarus’ opposition looked hopeless three months ago, but with Russia mired in southeastern Ukraine, there may never be a better time to act to remove Lukashenko than now.
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This is another example of how Putin played a poor hand badly and is losing bigly. Lukashenko appears to be caught between his people and Putin. They are both looking like loser at this point.
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