Russia and Belarus will hold joint military exercises just a year after the massive maneuvers mutated overnight from mere training to an offensive on Kyiv in 2022. As Ukraine strengthens the border and Moscow deploys planes to Belarusian airfields, President Aleksandr Lukashenko has advocated accelerating integration with Russia under the umbrella of the State of the Union, the supranational entity that unites them, promising that both Governments will have a common propaganda channel in the coming months. “We support and will continue to support our brothers,” the president warned in the face of criticism of his support for the Russian armed forces.
“Our destiny is to march together (both countries) and have something that will serve as a car seat belt. Therefore, this media holding should start its work later this year, preferably in the first half,” Lukashenko said on Tuesday at a meeting with State of the Union Secretary-General Dmitry Mezentsev. Minsk would use this propaganda channel to tighten control over the information coming from outside the country, where many independent journalists fleeing repression have taken refuge. This decision would mean another step in Belarus’ concessions to the Kremlin.
Media cooperation between the two governments has a precedent during the 2020 opposition protests, when Belarusian public media workers went on strike and were replaced by Russia Today (RT) workers dispatched from Moscow.
“You know how important you have been to us during these difficult times and what you, the technicians, the journalists, the correspondents … and your management have shown. It’s worth a lot, thank you for this support,” Lukashenko told RT in September of the same year.
Protests sparked by electoral fraud in 2020 prompted Lukashenko to seek help from Russian President Vladimir Putin. In addition to journalists, the Kremlin boss also sent reinforcements for the security forces and billions in aid to the regime. In turn, Moscow intensified meetings with a reluctant Lukashenko to deal with ongoing mechanisms of the State of the Union, a supranational structure agreed in 1999 to strengthen the unification of the two countries.
military cooperation
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The Belarusian President, at his meeting with Mezentsev, advocated increasing spending on the 28 State of the Union programs agreed with Putin in the past. However, his most outstanding collaboration to date is in the military.
Lukashenko announced on Monday that the Russian and Belarusian air forces will train together at all air bases in the country between January 16 and February 1. Several Russian planes have already landed on its territory, joining reinforcements that have arrived in recent months to form a joint regional force.
The President inspected these troops just before the Orthodox Christmas at the Obuz-Lesnovky military base and announced the delivery of large quantities of medical supplies to the Russian Armed Forces. “In a few months we have made a medical kit that is better than NATO’s, it can save lives,” he said during the visit. This Monday he reiterated that his country’s support for the Kremlin army was unconditional.
“You’re doing the right thing,” the president told Santa Isabel Convent for raising money for the Russian military: “Don’t pay attention to a handful of bought-in people. We help our Russian brothers, we never tried to hide it.”
A year earlier, between late December and February 20, the massive military maneuvers known as Allied Determination-2022 took place in Belarus. Both Minsk and Moscow vowed that troops would return to their bases as soon as they were ready, amid growing distrust from Ukraine and the West. “There is no doubt about it,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time about his alleged withdrawal. “Not a single soldier or piece of equipment will remain in Belarus after the exercises,” said the recently deceased Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei. Finally, four days after the end of these exercises, Russia launched from Belarusian territory against Kyiv.
Lukashenko claimed in December that concerns about Belarus’ eventual entry into the war were “a conspiracy theory,” while claiming his country had become a target of its neighbors and needed to arm itself. For its part, Ukraine learned its lesson in February last year and has been preparing for this possibility for months.
“On the other side there are no border guards, but soldiers in different uniforms,” complained the Belarusian state border committee, according to official information. The body has released a video accusing Kyiv of laying “mines, anti-tank ditches and other blockades” on Ukrainian territory ahead of a possible invasion. It’s not the first time he’s complained. The head of this committee, General Anatoly Lappo, denounced in October that the way through Ukraine was not clear: “Almost all bridges were blown up, and the railways and highways were completely mined” with “up to three rows of explosives”. .”
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