{"id":84665,"date":"2024-05-10T16:16:32","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T13:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/84665\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T13:35:32","slug":"lukasenka-putin-in-same-boat-heading-in-wrong-direction","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/84665\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka, Putin in same boat, heading in wrong direction"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“For Russia! For victory! Hurrah!” Vladimir Putin shouted at Red Square on May 9, concluding his speech, in which he manipulatively compared the Second World War to his war against Ukraine. Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka is his only ally in this war.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n \"\"\n
\n
\n\n \u0141uka\u0161enka and Putin at the Victory Day celebration in Moscow on May 9\n <\/div>\n \n
\n (\u0141uka\u0161enka's press office)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka dances to Kremlin’s tune to stay in power<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before 2020, when his dependence on the Kremlin was not so crippling, the Belarusian ruler could afford to make statements critical of Russia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, in October 2019, when recalling wars that devastated the Belarusian lands, including the Second World War, he emphasized, “These were not our wars. Nevertheless, we suffered a lot.”

It was a fair remark. However, political interests eventually forced him to turn a blind eye to the lessons of history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To tell the whole truth about that war, we should not close our eyes to things that do not fit into the official narrative.

Liberation from the Nazis did not bring freedom and independence to the Belarusians who found themselves under Josef Stalin\u2019s totalitarian regime.

We should talk about the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact and the Soviet-German parade in Brest in 1939, when the two dictators, obsessed with expanding their dominions, negotiated the division of Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We should not forget that in 1941 the Red Army, weakened by reprisals, quickly retreated eastward, leaving the Belarusian lands under occupation. The war taught us many bitter lessons.

Propagandists in Russia and Belarus cultivate a one-sided selective approach to the Second World War. Moreover, they use it to justify crimes of their regimes. Claiming to be the heirs of the great victory, propagandists say the West has no right to lecture the victors on human rights.

Moreover, Moscow is now trying to sell its war against Ukraine as fight against Nazis or “denazification.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, many people associate Kremlin’s aggressive behavior with Germany’s policy under the Nazis.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Putin went recently as far as to defend the Third Reich by saying that it was the Poles who “played games and forced Hitler to start World War II against them.”

\u0141uka\u0161enka is probably sincere when he says he does not want to go to war. But he made his choice during the mass protests in Belarus in 2020, when he asked Putin for help to prevent what he called a color revolution. Now he completely depends on the Kremlin for political survival.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boat for two<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The peoples of all Soviet republics fought against the Nazis, but now their paths have diverged. Moscow claims that its war with Ukraine is the continuation of holy struggle against Nazism.

Six post-Soviet leaders attended the May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow. Some were in Moscow for the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) summit held the day before. Of the six, \u0141uka\u0161enka meets with Putin most frequently.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attended the summit but did not stay for the parade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka’s speech at the summit on May 8 did not find much support. He tried to convince the audience that everyone was in the same boat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“Our geopolitical opponents are trying to isolate us from advanced technologies and premium markets, to hold back our development,” he complained, urging the EAEU to redirect its energies to Africa, which, he said, “is fed up with colonialism.”

In fact, only Moscow and Minsk have been hit by Western sanctions. The West is not giving Kazakhstan a hard time or isolating it from Western markets. On the contrary, many post-Soviet countries benefit from shadow schemes for supplying sanctioned goods to Russia.

Only Putin and \u0141uka\u0161enka are in the same boat. The latter proudly said that after the EAEU summit he talked with Putin until three in the morning. The Russian president said that they discussed “the complicated developments around Ukraine\u201d in the presence of the defense minister and the chief of the General Staff.

\u0141uka\u0161enka is obviously pleased that Putin trusts him so much that he allows him to join the circle of his military leaders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That trust only emphasizes that \u0141uka\u0161enka is a co-aggressor and proves that his aspirations as a peacemaker or mediator in the possible talks on Ukraine are simply ridiculous.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Minsk joins Moscow in rattling nukes<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The issue of Russian tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) deployed in Belarus last year was also raised in Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka had portrayed himself as a TNW owner, but Moscow had stressed that nuclear munitions were under its full control, so Russia did not break the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

On May 7, at a Victory Day grand rally in Minsk, \u0141uka\u0161enka announced a tactical nuclear drill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The announcement came hot on the heels of Putin\u2019s decision to hold a tactical nuclear weapon exercise to improve \u201cthe non-strategic nuclear forces\u2019 readiness for combat missions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMilitary units of the Moscow and Leningrad Military Districts, as well as the Baltic Fleet forces and means stationed in the Kaliningrad region will help us obtain operational information,\u201d \u0141uka\u0161enka said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From his words, one might think that he is in the driver\u2019s seat, while the Russian army takes a back seat. In fact, it is the other way around.

Putin dotted the i’s. “Since non-strategic nuclear weapons are deployed in the territory of Belarus, this time we offered our friends and allies, and the president of Belarus had asked for it, to participate in one of the stages of this drill,” he said.

The chronology of events proves that the idea came from Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Russian defense ministry announced the drills on May 6, while the Belarusian commander-in-chief announced it a day later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is easy to guess who is in charge. The Belarusian strongman is just a puppet in the Kremlin\u2019s effort to coerce the West into self-deterring from providing additional military assistance to Ukraine.

Putin emphasized that \u0141uka\u0161enka had asked him to involve Belarusian troops in the exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently, the Belarusian ruler believes that by flashing his nuclear toys, he will instill fear in the NATO countries, which, as he said, are gnashing their teeth at Belarus.

Ukraine, Europe and the United States do not take the Belarusian ruler seriously and see him as Putin’s puppet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To cling to power, the Belarusian strongman plays the role of Putin\u2019s squire and has taken the wrong side in the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“For Russia! For victory! Hurrah!” Vladimir Putin shouted at Red Square on May 9, concluding his speech, in which he manipulatively compared the Second World War to his war against Ukraine. Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka is his only ally in this war. \u0141uka\u0161enka dances to Kremlin’s tune to stay in power Before 2020, when his dependence on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":87,"featured_media":84501,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-84665","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n\u0141uka\u0161enka, Putin in same boat, heading in wrong direction | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\""For Russia! For victory! Hurrah!" 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