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Tag: Alexander Lukashenko

  • I repeatedly advised head of Wagner, to be cautious – Belarusian president

    I repeatedly advised head of Wagner, to be cautious – Belarusian president

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko says he personally told Wagner boss Yevgeny Prigozhin twice to be careful of any dangers to his life.

    Lukashenko mentioned that during their initial conversation, they were discussing agreements while simultaneously traveling towards Moscow.

    I said to him, “Yevgeny, do you realize that if you continue, your people will be in danger and you will also die. ” He had recently returned from fighting in the war. On a sudden feeling, he said: “I will die, darn it.

    Just a few days after a plane, suspected to be carrying the leader of the Wagner mercenary group, crashed in a field, the Belarusian leader recently discussed a subject.The plane was going from Moscow to St. Petersburg.
    The accident happened exactly two months after Prigozhin tried to rebel against Russia’s military leaders,which was a big challenge to President Vladimir Putin’s power.

    We do not know for sure what caused the crash yet, but the US and Western intelligence officials that CNN talked to think it was done on purpose. Russian officials are checking into a potential crime.

    The Kremlin said they were not involved in the plane crash and there is no proof that Putin or Russian security services had anything to do with it.

    The leader of Belarus said that when he spoke with Prigozhin for the second time, he strongly cautioned him to be careful.

    Lukashenko did not say when the meeting happened. He said that Dmitriy Utkin, who has worked with Prigozhin for a longtime,joined Prigozhin.

    The President of Belarus told Prigozhin that if he was worried about his safety, he could speak with Putin and be assured that he would be fully protected in Belarus.

    I told them that if they were scared of something, I would talk to President Putin and help them move to Belarus. We will keep you safe in Belarus. Yevgeny Prigozhin has never asked me to focus on security issues separately.

    The Russian government still hasn’t confirmed Prigozhin’s death, but Putin talked about him as if he has passed away on Thursday.

    Prigozhin and Utkin were both on the list of passengers released by the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency, and both the Pentagon and British Ministry of Defense said that it is probable that the leader of Wagner was killed in the rush.

    DmitryPeskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, said they are currently conducting tests to find out who was on the aircraft or ship.

    Lukashenko said before that he couldn’t believe that Putin was responsible for the apparent death of Prigozhin.

    I don’t know who did it. I don’t even want to be a lawyer for my older brother. But I know Putin – he is very careful, calm, and takes his time when making decisions about things that are not very complicated.

    Lukashenko expressed disbelief over the idea that Putin could be responsible for it, stating that he cannot fathom Putin’s involvement.”He said that the work was not good and was done in a careless and unskilled manner. ”
    Belta reported that Lukashenko said Prigozhin never asked for security promises after the failed mutiny two months ago.

    I don’t have to make sure Prigozhin stay safe. This is the beginning. He said that the conversation between Prigozhin and Lukashenko did not focus on this.

    He also said that Wagner will stay in Belarus. He mentioned that everyone from the group will be here in a few days. He was talking about the fighters from Wagner and the agreement he made to let them come to Belarus after the uprising failed.

    “He said that there can be as many as 10 thousand people. “As long as we need them, they will stay and work with us.

    Lukashenko mentioned that they were taking down extra tents because they had more than they needed,based on satellite pictures showing camp sites for Wagner fighters being dismantled. The main group is still here, but some people went on vacation and others chose to stay on the sidelines. However, everyone knows all the phone numbers, addresses, passwords, and how everyone looks.

    Prigozhin’s death has brought uncertainty to Wagner’s future in Belarus and other places.

  • Belarus has ‘already determined’ to use nuclear weapons against the West – Lukashenko

    Belarus has ‘already determined’ to use nuclear weapons against the West – Lukashenko

    The West has received a nuclear warning from Alexander Lukashenko weeks after his nation began receiving Russian tactical nuclear weapons.

    Targets for strikes in the event of aggression have already been decided, according to the president of Belarus.

    He declared: “We are not going to attack anyone with nuclear weapons” at a meeting with foreign reporters at his Minsk mansion.

    You can forget about using nuclear weapons as long as you don’t hit us. However, the reaction will be immediate if you act aggressively. The goals have been selected.

    His stark warning comes as Ukraine is still grappling with the ‘serious threat’ at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.

    The International Atomic Energy Agency has called for ‘full and immediate’ access to the site to examine for ‘explosives’.

    Lukashenko, a close ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin, also gave an update about the whereabouts of Yevgeny Prigozhin.

    ‘As for Prigozhin, he is in St Petersburg. He is not on the territory of Belarus,’ he said.

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    Russia will hold illegal ‘elections’ in the occupied areas of Kherson Oblastin September, regional governer Yurii Sobolevskyi has confirmed.

    The Ukrainian official cited the formation of a ‘Kherson Oblast election commission,’ set up by the Russian occupation authorities and urged locals not to take part in the process.

    ‘The occupiers set the dates of elections in the Kherson region — September 8, 9, 10. This was officially announced by the “head of the Kherson Region Election Commission” from the occupation authorities,’ he wrote on Telegram.

    ‘These actions have nothing to do with the election process and are absolutely illegal. Considering the way they already conducted the “referendum”, you can’t call it anything other than a circus and theater of the absurd.

    ‘I want to remind everyone that there will be responsibility for participating in the organization of this show. Each person will be held accountable.’

    Russia’s central election commission also confirmed plans to hold illegal votes in the four partially-occupied Ukrainian oblasts of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Luhansk.

    The sham vote, which is expected to take place on the same day as elections in Russian regions, shows the Kremlin’s desire to present the areas as integral parts of Russia, according to the U.K. Defense Ministry.

    The UK government has named Martin Harris as its next ambassador to Ukraine, starting in September.

    A longstanding diplomat, Harris previously served as the British ambassador to Romania between 2010-14 and has worked closely with HM goverment on diplomatic missions in both Moscow and Kyiv.

    He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in 2010, and a Companion of the Order of St. Michael and St. George in 2023.

    Outgoing ambassador to Kyiv, Melinda Simmons, who was appointed to the role in 2019, will take another diplomatic service appointment, the government said in a statement.

    Ukraine plans to abandon conscription and move to a professional army after the war with Russia to bring Kyiv closer to NATO standards, Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Thursday.

    After a meeting with top defence and security officials at which reforms known as ‘the Ukrainian shield’ were discussed, Shmyhal said the government would also continue to focus on supporting a further increase in domestic weapons production.

    ‘The primary task is to complete the transition of the Security and Defence Forces of Ukraine to NATO standards. In all aspects: from equipment and weapons to planning and analysis,’ Shmyhal said on the Telegram messaging app.

    ‘After the end of the war, Ukraine will abandon the draft as it existed before the war. The foundation of our defence will be a professional army.’

    The United States is expected to announce it will give cluster munitions to Ukraine for its fight against Russia’s invasion, the New York Times has reported, citing an unidentified senior Biden administration official.

    Ukraine says it wants to use the explosives to clkear minefields andstrike at dug-in Russians, but Human Rights groups have criticised the move and say the unexploded bomblets are a threat to civilians.

    Cluster munitions, banned by more than 120 countries, normally release large numbers of smaller bomblets that can kill indiscriminately over a wide area, threatening civilians.

  • Fire engulfs a Russian defense facility as Putin meets “yards away.”

    Fire engulfs a Russian defense facility as Putin meets “yards away.”

    As Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko had private meetings yesterday, a fire burned beside the Kremlin.

    Emergency personnel flocked to a fire at a Moscow defense ministry building at 19 Znamenka Street while the two leaders spoke.

    Spectacular film displays smoke rising into the sky and flowing from windows.

    The source of the fire is yet unknown, however approximately 50 people were evacuated.

    Major fire breaks out at Russian defence ministry in Moscow
    Smoke could be seen billowing into the sky (Picture: social media/ East2west News)

    The fire took place at a building known as Apraksin House, which has housed the administrative services of the Russian Ministry of Defence since 1987.

    It is close to the headquarters of the defence ministry and situated just several hundreds yards from the Kremlin. 

    In a statement, Russia’s defence ministry said: ‘Around 19:30 (16:30 GMT), in one of the administrative buildings of the defence ministry in Moscow, duty workers detected smoke on the premises.

    ‘The fire department and ministry of emergency situations came to the scene.’

    Major fire breaks out at Russian defence ministry in Moscow
    Emergency services at the scene last night (Picture: social media/ East2west News)

    Some reports said the section of the building on fire was a department of military property dealing with facilities across the country. 

    No injuries were reported.

    As firefighters battle to extinguish the flames, Putin was believed to be holding talks with Lukashenko – an ally in his war with Ukraine – in the Kremlin. 

    Unexplained fires in Russia have been reported at factories, barracks and even a former Ikea store in recent months.

    Ukrainian intelligence chief, Major-General Kyrylo Budanov told Forbes last month that the country was seeing many unusual explosions and fires.

    ‘Much of this is no accident,’ he said, admitting that Ukraine was paying Russian saboteurs. 

    ‘Something is constantly on fire [in Russia]. 

    ‘Signalling equipment on railways, it lights up several times a day, on various highways constantly for two to three hours, sometimes for five to six hours, traffic gets suspended.’

  • A Russian TV anchor was discovered during a show taking pictures of a woman’s cleavage

    A Russian TV anchor was discovered during a show taking pictures of a woman’s cleavage

    This unsettling incident occurred when a Russian television anchor was caught taking a snapshot of a woman’s cleavage live on air.

    Presenter Sergei Karnaukhov can be seen in footage from a well-known propaganda station focusing on an audience member before taking a picture.

    He is seen saving the close-up image of the woman on his desktop while sporting a sinister grin.

    Not realising his iPad was connected to the live broadcast, his disgraceful actions were seen by all viewers.

    Russian TV anchor busted for screenshotting cleavage during presidential speech

    This happened during an important speech by the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk.

    He discussed the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons on the territory of his country amongst other key issued around the invasion of Ukraine.

    But instead of focusing on what Vladimir Putin’s ally had to say, the host took the time to perv on the woman in the audience.

    The video has since been shared widely on social media, but Karnaukhov showed no embarrassment.

    Instead of an apology, he offered a rather ridiculous explanation for his actions.

    He told Gazeta.ru that he took the screenshot during Lukashenka’s speech ‘under the influence of thoughts of nuclear apocalypse’.

    ‘The topic of deploying nuclear weapons on the territory of Belarus evoked in me childhood memories of the terrible threat of a nuclear apocalypse,’ Karnaukhov said.

    ‘When, under the impression of these emotions, I saw a beautiful girl in the hall, I could not resist and took a screenshot. 

    ‘But it was a joke. However, I will keep silent about the true motives. Let this be a vivid reminder to all of us that this spring every man should remain a man, and every woman should be a wonderful creature that pleases and adorns this world.’

  • Putin loyalist Lukashenko meets Xi Jinping in Beijing

    Putin loyalist Lukashenko meets Xi Jinping in Beijing

    Wednesday’s meeting between Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko, a strong ally of Vladimir Putin, took place during a state visit. The West has warned Beijing against supporting Putin’s conflict in Ukraine with military aid.

    According to Belarusian state media agency Belta, Xi welcomed Lukashenko before the two started official discussions on Wednesday in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.
    No one has yet made information about the negotiations public.

    It is their first face-to-face meeting since the two presidents decided in September, outside the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summit in Uzbekistan, which Putin also attended, to upgrade their nations’ relations to a “all-weather comprehensive strategic alliance.”

    The visit from the Belarusian leader – who allowed Russian troops to use Belarus to stage their initial incursion into Ukraine last year – comes as tensions between the US and China have intensified in recent weeks, including over concerns from Washington that Beijing is considering sending lethal aid to the Kremlin’s struggling war effort. Beijing has denied those claims.

    The meeting came a day after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday made some of the most direct comments to date about how the US would respond to any lethal support China supplied to Russia.

    Blinken warned Washington would target Chinese firms or citizens involved in any effort to send lethal aid to Russia for its war in Ukraine, while speaking during a visit to Kazakhstan.

    Beijing – which claims to be a neutral party in the conflict – has pushed back on the US implication it is considering sending lethal aid. Its Foreign Ministry on Monday said China was “actively promoting peace talks and the political settlement of the crisis,” while the US was “pouring lethal weapons into the battlefield in Ukraine.”

    Beijing last week released a 12-point position on the “political solution” to the crisis in a document calling for peace talks to end the year-long war. Its release, however, was criticized by Western leaders, who accused China of already having taken Russia’s side.

    Lukashenko also met with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang on Wednesday and called for the two countries to “intensify” their relations, according to a readout from the Belarusian government.

    “We have no closed topics for cooperation. We cooperate in all avenues. Most importantly, we have never set ourselves the task of being friends or working against third countries,” Lukashenko told Li per the readout.

    The tightening of ties between Minsk and Beijing comes alongside a years-long decline in Belarus’ relations with the European Union and as it may seek to diversify its Russia-dependent economy.

    The former Soviet state was targeted by sweeping sanctions from the US and its allies in response to Moscow’s aggression after Lukashenko allowed Russian troops to invade Ukraine through the 1,000-kilometer (621-mile) Ukrainian-Belarusian border north of Kyiv.

    The European Union also does not recognize the results of Lukashenko’s 2020 election win – which sparked mass pro-democracy protests in the country and were followed by a brutal government crackdown.

    There have been fears throughout the conflict in Ukraine that Belarus will again be used as a launching ground for another Russian offensive, or that Lukashenko’s own troops would join the war. Before visiting Moscow earlier this month, Lukashenko claimed there is “no way” his country would send troops into Ukraine unless it is attacked.

    Both China and Belarus have previously implied that the US does not want to see an end to the conflict.

    In comments to reporters earlier this month before heading to Moscow to meet with Putin, Lukashenko maintained he wanted to see “peaceful negotiations” and accused the United States of preventing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from negotiating.

    “The US are the only ones who need this slaughter, only they want it,” he said.

    Beijing has made similar assertions, with China’s top diplomat Wang Yi saying at a security conference in Munich earlier this month that China does not “add fuel to the fire,” and is “against reaping benefits from this crisis,” alluding to regular Chinese propaganda messaging that the US is intentionally prolonging the war to advance its own geopolitical interests and increase the profits of its arms manufacturers.

  • Belarus, Russia relations: Alexander Lukashenko ‘unlikely’ to enter war

    Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin spoke yesterday in Minsk, sparking rumours that Putin may be trying to convince Belarus to join the conflict.

    According to experts, Belarus will not directly enter the conflict because Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko “likely deflected” Mr. Putin’s efforts.

    Belarus needs to defend its borders against the West and NATO, according to US-based think tank The Institute for the Study of War, which claimed Mr. Lukashenko was doing this to avoid taking part in the invasion.

    In a joint news conference after the talks, both presidents refrained from discussing the invasion.

     

    The ISW said that if Mr Lukashenko were planning on joining the war, he would likely “adjust his rhetoric to create some plausible explanation to his own people about why he was suddenly turning away from the fictitious NATO invasion threat”.

    This is not to say the Kremlin hadn’t planned to pressure Belarus.

    According to the think tank, Moscow has “attempted to conceal Putin’s likely original intentions to pressure Lukashenko”.

    The ISW pointed out that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed the speculation as “foolish” – and that he had avidly denied Russia’s intention to invade days before the war.

    “But this denial is more likely an attempt to cover up Putin’s desperation to involve Lukashenko in the war and apparent failure – again – to do so,” the ISW said.

     

     

  • General Staff: Ukraine beefs up forces near the border with Belarus in case of an attack

    Ukraine has increased the number of forces deployed in northern regions near Belarus to counter any potential renewed Russian attack across the border, according to the country’s general staff.

    “At the current time, the creation of a strike force [in Belarus] is not observable. [But] there are and will be threats. We are reacting, we have already increased our troops in the northern direction,” Oleksii Hromov, deputy head of the general staff’s main operations directorate, told a regular news briefing.

    Belarus is a close ally of Russia and has previously allowed Moscow’s forces to use its territory as a springboard to attack Ukraine.

    Earlier this month, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus and Russia would deploy a joint military task force near Ukraine in response to what he claimed was a clear threat to his country from Kyiv and its backers in the West, without providing evidence for the assertion.

     

     

  • Belarus on high alert for terrorism

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said his country is on high alert for terrorism due to tensions on its borders.

    Mr. Lukashenko linked the decision to his declaration on Monday that he had ordered Belarusian troops to deploy along Belarus’s southern border with Ukraine alongside Russian forces.

    “In connection with the escalation of tension, a regime of heightened terrorist danger has been introduced,” Mr Lukashenko said in a Russian TV interview.

    “Therefore we began a procedure with the Union group of forces, the basis of which, as I already said, is the Belarusian army, which will be supplemented by units from the Russian Federation. Everything is going according to plan.”

    Belarus is allied with Moscow but wedged between Russia, Ukraine, and three NATO countries.

    Belarus allowed Russia to use its territory as one of the launchpads for its 24 February invasion.

    Its latest troop movements have raised concern in Kyiv and the West that Mr Lukashenko may be about to commit his army to support Russia’s faltering war effort.

    Political analysts say that is an unappealing option for him but that he may not be in a position to refuse if Russian President Vladimir Putin demands it.

    Belarus depends on Russia politically and economically, and Mr Putin’s support helped Mr Lukashenko survive mass pro-democracy protests in 2020.

    Mr Lukashenko crushed the demonstrations and all leading opposition figures have been jailed or forced to flee abroad.