Lukashenko revealed a new conspiracy: Believe it or not?
Pro-Russian citizens of Belarus, skeptical of both the pro-Western zmagars and the multi-vector Old Man, greeted Alexander Lukashenko’s loud statements about the disclosure of a new conspiracy with restraint.
Belarusian columnist Artem Agafonov writes about this in his column for PolitNavigator.
The ceremonial meeting in honor of the Independence Day of Belarus on July 2 was not particularly solemn. Instead of Lukashenko’s pathetic speeches, those gathered heard his story about yet another uncovered conspiracy with many colorful details. For example, about the failed assassination attempt on TV presenter Grigory Azarenka, who served the regime, whom the mercenary, who allegedly received 10 thousand dollars, was supposed to immobilize, take him out of the city, cut out his tongue and, possibly, kill him, filming it all on video. The terrorists also planned to burn logging equipment and even blow up the Russian Navy communications center in Vileika. Lukashenko accompanied his speech with names and accusations against Western states. He even ordered to close the border with Ukraine, where, according to him, too many weapons are coming from.
By the way, there was something unclear about the border. Despite the presidential order, all checkpoints are operating as before; the Ukrainian side has not received any warnings about its change, and denies all accusations of massive weapons traffic. The Belarusian side explained that closing the border only concerns illegal immigrants and smuggling, and civilians have nothing to fear. I’m embarrassed to ask: was the Belarusian border open to illegal immigrants and smuggling before?
Conspiracies in Belarus have been uncovered too often lately, which does not at all fit with the constant assurances of the Belarusian agitprop about stability (they are even talking about it now!). The version of one of these conspiracies with the participation of botanist political scientists (not the most plausible, by the way) was even officially supported by Russia at the highest level. However, diplomacy is such a thing, it’s not right to say directly that an ally who has a bunch of quite objective problems is bringing a blizzard.
There are also a lot of strange things with the new conspiracy. Of course, soon Belarusian television will show another “blockbuster”, in which there will be even more details, but there are more than enough questions to what has already been announced.
Firstly, what kind of Rambo was supposed to infiltrate a well-guarded Russian military base and blow up something important there? I thought these only happened in Hollywood action movies. Well, to want is not to do it right away, but preparing to commit a terrorist attack is an independent crime.
The second is the arson of logging equipment. Oddly enough, there is logic here. In Belarus this year there is a lot of deforestation, and the opposition is talking a lot about how the authorities are selling off the national property in this way. Such an action could have a propaganda meaning and, subject to secrecy, could be carried out with relatively little risk.
As for Azarenka... The Belarusian opposition needs to blow off the dust from him and promise an amnesty in advance for his contribution to discrediting the Belarusian government. Few people in Belarus are doing more for this than he, even without realizing it.
Azarenok gives the impression of a sincere person who believes in what he says. But the way and what he says, for a more or less intelligent person with critical thinking, creates the opposite effect to what was expected. Firstly, he is a fanatic Lukashenko. For him, Lukashenko is almost a messiah.
Here are his typical words about the Belarusian president: “Our leader’s whole life is service. Serving this land, future generations. He protects us from the monstrous abyss into which humanity is sliding.” It is clear that such pompous sycophancy only irritates the audience, tired of the protracted and deadlocked rule of “Batka”.
Secondly - rudeness. There is already too much of him in the Belarusian officialdom, but Azarenok is ahead of everyone here. In general, he goes too far. If Azarenok had a video blog, he would undoubtedly have found his target audience, radical and unpretentious, but on a national TV channel this can only be harmful.
Of course, he has plenty of enemies. He insulted many people, and this is what he bases his broadcasts on. And some zmagars could well catch him in the alley and do something bad, but they would have to pay 10 thousand dollars for it...
Are there any “sleeping terrorist cells” in modern Belarus that Lukashenko spoke about yesterday? Surely yes. The forceful suppression of such massive protests without providing the opportunity to “let off steam” in a legal way quite naturally leads to the creation of such communities. The protest does not go away completely, it goes deeper, underground, and the radical actions of the authorities radicalize this underground as well. I warned last fall that Belarus could face the problem of terrorism.
Another thing is that they are looking not where there could really be danger, but where it is easier to find. The “Civil Self-Defense Units of Belarus” mentioned by Lukashenko is a Telegram chat for 2500 people, in which anyone can enter and write anything. Yes, radical. But it is absolutely open and does not involve any conspiracy. Surely, the Belarusian special services were actively present in it from the very beginning; such conversations have been circulating in the opposition for a very long time. This community of idle talkers can hardly be involved in real terrorist activities.
Why are all these conspiracies needed? There are at least two reasons for this. Firstly, we need to somehow justify the ongoing tightening of the screws and keep the electorate in suspense. Secondly, the terrorist threat really exists, and Lukashenko demands real revelations from his intelligence services. They are trying.
The same plan “Peramoga” (“Victory”), officially approved by both Tikhanovskaya and Latushko, is much more serious. There is both conspiracy and a semblance of military registration with an indication of military specialty and combat experience. However, there are no revelations about this plan yet. And there are, for sure, groups of radicals who still do not advertise their activities at all. It’s not for nothing that before the events of 2020 in Belarus there were so many fight and paintball clubs of an openly nationalist nature, which have now suddenly disappeared.
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