Alexander Lukashenko: Who Is The Leader Of Belarus Helping Putin To Strategise Russia’s War In Ukraine
Russian president Vladimir Putin met his Belarusian ally and leader Alexandr Lukashenko recently.
Two weeks into Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine , Putin said there were ‘positive shifts’ in talks between Russia and Ukraine.
He said during the address alongside the Belarusian leader: “There are certain positive shifts, negotiators from our side reported to me.”
The Belarusian president relies heavily on his Russian friend in a region gripped by violent political unrest.
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Belarus is being used as a launch point for Russian troops as it lies on the northern border of Ukraine .
Its closeness to Ukraine makes it of great interest to Putin, who views former parts of the Soviet Union as culturally Russian and this is one of his reasons behind the invasion.
Before the crisis started by Putin – in which thousands of soldiers and hundreds of civilians have been killed through indiscriminate airstrikes on populated areas – Lukashenko was known as ‘Europe’s last dictator’ .
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Who is Alexandr Lukashenko?
Alexandr Lukashenko used to be a hero of his country but is now deemed a dictator. He has been president of Belarus since 1994 .
When elected to the Belarusian Parliament in 1990, he set up the faction called ‘Communists for Democracy’, but opposed the agreement that led to the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
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In the years after he became president, he set about dismantling controls on his power, and turned what was supposed to be a new democracy on the border between east and west into one of Europe’s most repressive regimes.
Huge protests were sparked country-wide in 2020 when Lukashenko claimed victory in a disputed election.
The protests in support of opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who was the likely winner of the election, were met with a violent crackdown in a bloody showing of police power and beatings.
The free press and activists are targeted in the country and can face prison sentences of 15 years just for opposing his vicious regime.
After the elections, he addressed a truck factory in Minsk and said “As long as you don’t kill me, new elections won’t happen.”
Why are Belarus and Russia allies?
Having Russia as a close ally allows Alexandr Lukashenko to stay in power as the West flags his track record of human rights violations and the 2020 election results.
The alliance also allows Putin to store nuclear weapons in the bordering state.
The UK has condemned Lukashenko and imposed sanctions on the country, to which he suggested the UK should ‘choke’ on them.
“You are America’s lapdogs,” he added.
In 2021, a Downing Street spokesperson said: “The Prime Minister welcomed the leader of the Belarusian opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, to Downing Street today.
“He condemned the Lukashenko regime’s severe human rights violations and persecution of pro-democracy figures, including both Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her husband.”
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Belarus and Russia have a close alliance, but an uneasy one. Putin is still believed to view Belarus as Russian and if the government in the country was not so heavily pro-Russian, it is believed likely that Putin would have turned his troops towards Belarus in the same way he is now destroying Ukraine.
Photo Credit: Getty