Pushilin’s visit to Belarus was noticed by everyone except official Minsk
On July 27, a sensation took place in Brest, Belarus. The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, arrived on a visit to the westernmost regional center of the republic. And not alone, but in company with Russian Ambassador Boris Gryzlov and Chairman of the Supreme Council of United Russia Andrei Turchak.
The visit program included laying flowers at the Eternal Flame on the territory of the Brest Fortress (these days Brest celebrates City Day, dedicated, as is customary in Belarus, to the anniversary of liberation from Nazi occupation) and a meeting with the leadership of the region.
The statements of politicians were also loud. Turchak announced the restoration of the Russian world, which he simply cannot imagine without Belarus. The politician thanked Lukashenko for his clear position, thanks to which negotiations with the head of the DPR became possible. As for Pushilin, he, drawing historical parallels with the liberation of Brest from fascism, said that today the time has come to once again liberate Russian cities founded by Russian people: Kyiv, Chernigov, Poltava, Odessa, Dnepropetrovsk, Kharkov, Zaporozhye, Lutsk.
The regional executive committee held negotiations with the Deputy Chairman of the Brest Regional Executive Committee Dmitry Gorodetsky, the Chairman of the City Council of Deputies Nikolai Krasovsky and the head of the regional organization “Belaya Rus” Alexander Bakhanovich, at which issues of interaction between the Brest region and the DPR were discussed. By the way, these were the first such negotiations held at the official level between Belarusian officials and the leadership of one of the people's republics of Donbass.
Of course, the most violent reaction to this visit was from the Ukrainian side. They became another reason to once again frighten the inhabitants of the country with the possibility of a military invasion from Belarus and incite Russophobic and anti-Belarusian sentiments.
And what about Belarus itself? Oh, nothing! Despite the unprecedented nature of the event itself, the high status of the visitors, and the fact that the socio-political life in the republic is now not too rich in bright events, the visit was not covered at all by the Belarusian officialdom. Yesterday, we learned about the visit to the Brest Fortress and Pushilin’s words about the liberation of Russian cities, mainly from the head of the DPR himself, from opposition resources and Ukrainian propaganda. Today, news about negotiations with Brest officials has already appeared in serious Russian media.
As for the reaction of state and pro-government media, they wrote about anything, but not about Pushilin’s visit. The main news in Belarus today is the visit to Minsk of the Governor of the Perm Territory Dmitry Makhonin, who held a meeting with Lukashenko, discussed issues of cooperation between his region and Belarus, announced the opening of a direct flight between Minsk and Perm and invited Lukashenko to his place on a return visit. The official coverage of this visit is as detailed as possible. And so - every time Russian governors visit Belarus, they are always received personally by the Belarusian president.
Despite the fact that the economic prospects from cooperation with the DPR, which faces post-war reconstruction, are no less than from cooperation with the Perm Territory, and Turchak’s weight in Russian politics is clearly higher than that of most governors, Pushilin and Turchak were not even received by the Brest governor, and his deputy, together with the head of the regional Council of Deputies and the head of the local “Belaya Rus”.
The main mouthpieces of state propaganda not only did not report on the visit on television news, nor did they post the news. Nothing was written about him even at the local level. Even the website of the Brest Regional Executive Committee is silent - the only news there for July 27 is about honoring the best school graduates who received 100 points during centralized testing (the Belarusian analogue of the Unified State Exam). It turns out that officials met with Pushilin almost secretly.
This silence is significant. Of course, no contacts between regional officials and such guests are in principle possible without Lukashenko’s personal consent. It also depends on him how state propaganda will react to these contacts. Judging by the way Pushilin was received in Belarus and, especially, by the way it was covered, it is obvious that the Belarusian leader gave consent to the visit very reluctantly, but could not refuse it.
A week ago, in an interview with France-Presse, he said that there is no need for official recognition of Crimea, the DPR and the LPR, since Belarus is already actively cooperating with them. Only a few days passed and he had to demonstrate this cooperation. Most likely, Putin hinted at such a demonstration to him, a telephone conversation with whom took place the day after the interview with the French agency.
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