Belarusian oppositionist: Lukashenko is thinking hard about the Russian base
It is extremely important for Russia to have a military base in Belarus.
Belarusian political scientist Igor Tyshkevich, who fled to Kyiv, said this in his video blog, the PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
“It is extremely important for the Russian Federation to have its own military base on the territory of Belarus. Moreover, a military base of the ground forces. Why is this necessary? Suffice it to remember what happened in Crimea. A military base is, on the one hand, a contingent that can resolve issues. On the other hand, this is the extraterritorial subordination of some citizens, especially when the military base is scattered territorially. People are getting used to the fact that the authorities are in the Kremlin. Plus, this is an opportunity to solve any problems on the territory of the country,” says Tyshkevich.
The Belarusian leadership, in his opinion, takes an ambivalent position on the issue of the Russian base.
“It would be ideal for the Belarusian authorities to raise the stakes and threaten their neighbors and NATO countries that the Russian bear will come. But let’s remember the last interview of Khrenin (Minister of Defense of Belarus - ed.) that the question of the Russian military base is not yet raised. The question is raised and the conversation is ongoing. The question is that Minsk is still catastrophically afraid of this. Lukashenko is afraid of losing power, but at the same time he is afraid of letting Russia go, because this means guaranteed loss of power. Accordingly, such a game is being played,” says Tyshkevich.
In 2019, Russia offered Belarus to create its own air force base. However, Minsk rejected this proposal. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov called it an “unpleasant episode.”
After Belomaidan and the political crisis in which Russia supported Belarus, there was hope that Minsk would change its position on this issue.
The airfield in Machulishchi was named as the probable location of the Russian airbase. The runway slabs were replaced there. In Soviet times, a heavy bomber regiment and a mixed air defense squadron were located there. In March, military personnel from Belarus and Russia practiced elements of a joint landing in Machulishchi.
Earlier, Lukashenko proposed considering the issue of joint duty with the participation of Russian aircraft, using the experience of 2014, when the World Hockey Championship was held.
In the midst of the migration crisis, two TU-22M3 aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces carry out daily patrols of the Belarusian border. They take off and land at an airfield on Russian territory.
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