{"id":11383,"date":"2022-03-25T18:04:35","date_gmt":"2022-03-25T15:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/belarusians-do-not-want-to-go-to-war-with-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"belarusians-do-not-want-to-go-to-war-with-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11383\/","title":{"rendered":"Belarusians do not want to go to war with Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n

\n Only three percent of Belarusians are in favor of Belarus sending troops to assist Russia in its attempt to conquer Ukraine, found a survey conducted by Chatham House from March 5 to 14 among residents of Belarusian towns and cities. The poll showed that the Belarusian public is polarized, and many Belarusians have been brainwashed by anti-Ukrainian and pro-Russian propaganda.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The propaganda has definitely made an impact on Belarusians, 30 percent of whom said that their country had benefited from the presence of Russian troops on its territory, while 38 percent held the opposite view. A considerable proportion of Belarusians (28 percent) said that Belarus should back Russia but it should not send troops to Ukraine. Twenty-five percent said that Belarus should declare neutrality and tell foreign troops to leave its territory. Fifteen percent said that Belarus should condemn Russia and should not step into the fray.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Interestingly, 67 percent of Belarus are opposed to Russia using Belarusian territory to fire missiles and launch other attacks on Ukraine, while 52 percent said that Belarus should not let Russia use its territory as a staging ground for attacks.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The prospect of Moscow establishing a Russian military base in Belarus met with greater opposition (44 percent) than support (24 percent), while only 20 percent support the hypothetical deployment of nuclear weapons to Belarus with 80 percent opposed to the possibility.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Less than half of Belarusians see Belarus as a party already involved in the conflict. One in five respondents consider Belarus a co-aggressor.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Most respondents are expecting living standards to decline in the next three months.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Belarusians are divided in their support for Russia and Ukraine, but agree that Belarus should not take part in military operations, said Chatham House.\n<\/p>\n

Neutral\/passive support for Russia<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Belarusian opposition politicians say that the overwhelming majority of Belarusians do not approve of Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka\u2019s collaboration with Russia against Ukraine, and have called on the international community to recognize Belarus as a temporarily occupied territory.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka has allowed Russian forces to launch strikes on Ukraine from Belarus. Belarusians have not staged street protests against Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine (except for anti-war demonstrations on February 27). A considerable proportion of Belarusians supports the Russian invasion.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t \u201cThe war has changed the black-and-white picture, has made it much more complex,\u201d Valieryj Karbalievi\u010d, a Belarusian political analyst, told The Viewer.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t He recalled that more than two thirds of Belarusians backed Russia after it annexed Crimea in 2014. The political landscape has changed, Karbalievi\u010d said. \u201cThe 28-percent support for Russia roughly equals to the proportion of Luka\u0161enka supporters based on other polls.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Hiennad\u017a Kor\u0161una\u016d, a Belarusian social scientist, noted that Russian propaganda has made an impact on the public sentiment. He noted that those who support Russia take a neutral-and-passive attitude. When it comes to Belarusian forces\u2019 participation, support falls to the margin of statistical error, he told The Viewer.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Many of those who watch Russian state (60 percent) and non-state (35 percent), and Belarusian state (44 percent) media are in favor of Belarus\u2019 support for Russia, but are opposed to Belarusian troops\u2019 deployment to Ukraine. Those subscribed to Ukrainian media outlets are more likely to condemn Russia (40 percent). About 35 percent in the audience of Belarusian non-state media condemn Russia and 43 percent want Belarus to be neutral and demand that Russia remove its forces from the Belarusian territory.\n<\/p>\n

One-sided information<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t The Luka\u0161enka supporters rely on Belarusian and Russian state media for information on Ukraine, while opponents use information from independent Belarusian and Russian media, as well as from Ukrainian media to a smaller extent, Kor\u0161una\u016d said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t The sources of information have become polarized and isolated from each other after authorities banned tut.by, a balancing media that attracted people with different views, he said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Some former tut.by readers have subscribed to Russia\u2019s Yandex. News, while others are looking for more independent outlets, but subscription to Telegram channels critical of the authorities is fraught with risk, he noted.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Still, Kor\u0161una\u016d says that independent media can reach out to people with pro-Russian and pro-Luka\u0161enka positions through people-to-people contacts.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Casualties and the lack of progress of the Russian offensive have shaken their confidence, he said. \u201cThey see that the blitzkrieg has failed and that the Russian army is worse than expected.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Bad economic news also affects people susceptible to state propaganda, he said.\n<\/p>\n

Factors work against Luka\u0161enka<\/span> <\/h2>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka has repeatedly said that he will not send troops to Ukraine unless Ukraine provokes him into doing it. If he eventually deploys Belarusian units to Ukraine, disapproval of his policy will rise because Belarusians do not want their children to participate in the hostility, Karbalievi\u010d said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Luka\u0161enka will not be able to defy Vladimir Putin\u2019s orders to reinforce the Russian troops with Belarusian soldiers, he said.\n<\/p>\n

\n\t Public discontent with the Luka\u0161enka is likely to rise, but the Belarusian ruler will keep relying on intimidation to keep himself in power, Karbalievi\u010d said. Anyway, public discontent can boil over, he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Only three percent of Belarusians are in favor of Belarus sending troops to assist Russia in its attempt to conquer Ukraine, found a survey conducted by Chatham House from March 5 to 14 among residents of Belarusian towns and cities. The poll showed that the Belarusian public is polarized, and many […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11383","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBelarusians do not want to go to war with Ukraine | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Only three percent of Belarusians are in favor of Belarus sending troops to assist Russia in its attempt to conquer Ukraine,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11383\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belarusians do not want to go to war with Ukraine | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" 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