The leader of the opposition in Belarus claims that Lukashenko has lost control over the military situation in the country

Aleksandr Lukashenko’s regime has lost control over the military situation in the country, where Russian troops are deployed, Svetlana Tihanovskaia, a leading figure of the Belarusian opposition, in exile, said on Wednesday, reports EFE.

“What Lukashenko is doing is threatening people, telling them about possible attacks from Ukraine, looking for external enemies. He says that Ukraine will attack us because he wants to justify the presence of Russian troops on our territory”, declared Tihanovskaia in a joint press conference in the European Parliament with the leader of the European People’s Party (EPP), Manfred Weber.

“But Belarusians understand that there is no threat from Ukraine, Poland or any other democratic country, they understand that now Lukashenko is doing what his master (Russian President Vladimir) Putin asks him to do and that he has at least lost control of the situation soldiers from our country”, said the opposition, according to which, among the Belarusian army “there is no desire” to fight with the Ukrainians.

Belarus has been one of Russia’s closest allies in the military campaign in Ukraine since it made its territory available in February for Russian troops to enter the neighboring country, and continues to provide logistical support to the Russian military, according to the Ukrainian General Staff .

Lukashenko gave assurances at the end of September that he has no intention of mobilizing troops to participate in the war.

The Belarusian opposition, however, believes that Lukashenko and Putin are trying to ‘increase and legalize the constant deployment of Russian troops on Belarusian territory’, which represents ‘an occupation’.

“Our position is clear: Belarus must officially withdraw from participation in the Russian war. All Russian soldiers must leave Belarus unconditionally, and all those involved in Russia’s attack from Belarus must be held accountable,” said Tihanovskaia.

To this end, she requested “more support” from the European Union for her country, as its future “is linked” to that of Ukraine, with which it shares a “common enemy”, and stated that although she understands that the situation his country took a back seat due to the war in Ukraine, “Belarus should also be on the agenda” because “it is part of the problem”.

“Without a free Belarus there will be a constant threat against Ukraine, against our countries, that’s why no Russian soldiers should stay in our country,” insisted the opponent, who emphasized that Belarusians share European democratic values, as they have shown – in 2020, when they organized massive protests after the presidential elections considered fraudulent by the Lukashenko regime.

In this sense, the head of the EPP declared that for the Europeans, Tihanovskaia is the “elected leader” of Belarus, as they do not recognize the results of the elections that attributed the victory to the dictator Lukashenko, “Putin’s closest friend”, with whom he creates joint troops between his country and Russia.

In August 2020, Svetlana Tihanovskaia ran against Lukashenko in the presidential elections, after her husband, Serghei Tihanovski, a well-known dissident and blogger, was arrested before the start of the election campaign, and in December 2021 he was sentenced to 18 years in prison for organizing mass disturbances and inciting social hatred. Shortly after the election in which Lukashenko was declared the winner, she was forced to leave the country.