Belarus Review by iSANS — January 07, 2025 

Belarus Review (2025 edition, issue 01)

A weekly update on the ongoing political crisis in the Republic of Belarus was prepared for you by the International Strategic Action Network for Security (iSANS). 

In the period under review, Russian drones of the “Shahed” type continued to enter Belarusian airspace from the territory of Ukraine. Between December 23 and January 5, a total of 45 Russian drones were reported to have flown into Belarus. Specifically, on December 23, seven drones were detected; on December 25, two drones; on December 31, eight drones; on January 1 and January 3, 17 drones; on January 4, eight drones; and on January 5, one drone, while two others reportedly did not reach Belarus although headed towards it. Subsequently, most of the drones returned to Ukrainian territory, while the fate of the others remains unknown. The Belarusian Armed Forces did not reportedly shoot down any drones. Between July and December 2024, 395 Russian drones were recorded in the Belarusian airspace.

In the second half of December, the Belarusian Armed Forces group deployed near the Ukrainian border was reinforced. Units of the 120^th Mechanized Brigade (military unit 04147) were relocated to the Homiel and Mazyr districts (Homiel Region), while units of the 11^th Mechanized Brigade (military unit 33933) were stationed in the Stolin (Brest Region) and Lelchytsy (Homiel Region) districts. Officially, the units are tasked with “strengthening the state border of Belarus.” Mechanized, artillery, reconnaissance, and air defense units, as well as UAV system crews, have been involved in guarding the border with Ukraine.

On December 22, it was reported that the Belarusian Precision Electromechanics Plant and several Russian enterprises were awarded the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation’s “Golden Idea” prize. The award was given for organizing the production of components for the 122-mm rocket projectiles for the “Grad” multiple launch rocket system (MLRS) in Belarus and their subsequent delivery to Russia.

On December 23, the Belarusian State Military-Industrial Committee announced the completion of development work on the creation of the “Sapsan” mobile system to counter small drones. The system is reportedly designed to protect critical infrastructure from UAVs, enabling their detection, tracking, electronic suppression, and destruction.

On December 27, it became known that the flight restriction zone for all types of civilian aircraft (including drones) at altitudes up to 19,800 meters in southern Belarus was extended. The restrictions will be in effect from January 1 to March 31, 2025. The flight ban in southern Belarus was first introduced on February 24, 2022, and has since been repeatedly extended.

On December 30, a specialized training classroom for drone operators opened at the Military Faculty of the Belarusian State University of Informatics and Radioelectronics (BSUIR). The establishment of the classroom was the result of a meeting between the Belarusian Ministry of Defense and university rectors in October 2024. The classroom is reportedly equipped with modern technical resources to train operators of multirotor UAVs. The first group of students is set to begin training on February 1. By September 1, 2025, an additional 16 such classrooms are planned to be opened at universities with military faculties or departments.

During the period under review, the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, gave an interview to American podcaster Lex Fridman during which he mentioned some insights about Lukashenka in the context of the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He revealed that during their telephone conversation, Lukashenka apologized to him “for missiles being launched from his country” while claiming he was allegedly “not responsible” for this. According to Zelensky, Lukashenka also recommended him “not to fight with Russians”, while partly admitting his blame that Russians used Belarus to invade the country, suggested to “attack some oil refineries on the Belarusian territory, to let it be fair” since they “mean a lot for Lukashenka”. Previous reports indicated that Mozyr Oil Refinery indeed played an important role for the Lukashenka regime –at least two batteries of Belarusian Air Defense Forces were relocated in 2024 for its protection from drones. After the interview, Natalia Eismont, Lukashenka’s Press Secretary, made a comment in response to Zelensky’s statement. She denied the apologies of the dictator, while not denying the fact that the conversation indeed took place. In addition, she said that Lukashenka’s son Nikolai allegedly “had Zelensky’s personal number and was emotional about the start of the conflict”, and this was the reason for the telephone call. She also claimed that the following Istanbul negotiations were partly caused by the conversation.

The President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, mentioned Belarus in his New Year’s address: “I am sure that the day will come when we will all say: “Long Live Belarus!” Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya responded on X: “Thank you, President Zelenskyy, for your powerful call to support Belarusians defending freedom. Our fight for dignity and democracy unites us. Together, we prove that no dictator can break the spirit of those who believe in freedom”.

Leader of the Belarusian democratic forces Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said in her New Year address that “we all want a future without pressure or persecution. A future where children are taught humanity, not prepared for war. A future where we choose and build our lives ourselves”. Read the address in full. Despite the Lukashenka regime authorities blocking access to YouTube in Belarus for the second year in a row, Tsikhanouskaya’s address surpassed Lukashenka’s in viewership.

Pavel Latushka, representing the United Transitional Cabinet, participated in the official inauguration of Poland’s presidency of the EU Council, at the invitation of Poland’s Minister for European Affairs, Adam Shlapka. He emphasized the shared interest of Belarusians and Poles in fostering a democratic, independent, and sovereign Belarus during Poland’s EU presidency. He also thanked Poland for its “firm stance” against the Lukashenka regime and stressed the importance of collaboration with Belarusian democratic forces. Key priorities include rejecting the legitimacy of the upcoming “presidential elections” in the country, holding the dictator accountable for crimes against humanity, and “ensuring Belarusian democratic voices are represented in discussions about Ukraine”. In addition, Latushka highlighted the need for EU-backed support in areas such as visas, education, independent media, and cultural preservation to counteract the regime’s influence.

Aliaksandr Lukashenka will visit China from February 28 to March 2 to discuss bilateral relations and the international agenda, as announced by his press service. Speaking to his officials in Minsk, the dictator once again recalled the working visit, emphasizing its importance and describing it as “fundamental for the Belarusian future”. During the meeting, he also said that he allegedly “would not have time to control this election campaign”, therefore calling the officials to “organize everything properly”. Discussing the “elections”, which are scheduled on January 26, he also recalled the strategy of the Belarusian democratic forces to “vote against all”, condemning it in a propaganda manner and inviting them “come here and participate in the election”. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian Foreign Minister Kestutis Budrys has called for an international response to the presidential “elections” in Belarus after his meeting with Tsikhanouskaya on December 27, including the continuation of the sanctions policy and increased support for the democratic forces in Belarus. Budrys also noted that Lithuania raised the issue of Belarus at the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels in December 2024 and plans to do so again in January.

The American magazine Politico published a list of “black swans” for 2025, compiled by 15 futurists, scientists, and analysts. Among the “unpredictable, unlikely” events that have not yet occurred but could potentially happen is the overthrow of the Lukashenka regime by the Belarusian people. This prediction was made by Evelyn Farkas, Executive Director of the McCain Institute at Arizona State University. She suggested that a negative outcome for the Kremlin in its war against Ukraine could undermine Putin’s rule, potentially allowing the Belarusian people to seize the opportunity to gain freedom, capitalizing on Putin’s weakened position and his inability to intervene to support Lukashenka.

The private Belarusian airline “Rada Airlines”, despite international sanctions, reportedly regularly operates flights to Benghazi, Libya. It is likely that Belarus is involved in a complex network of arms transportation for Khalifa Haftar, the head of the Libyan National Army (LNA), according to Aeroin aviation news portal. The mysterious flights began after Khalifa Haftar’s son, Saddam Haftar, visited Belarus in October 2024. According to the publication, the complex logistics of these shipments were likely designed to conceal the nature of the cargo –  presumably weapons – from Turkey and to avoid inspections.

Germany responded to Minsk’s tax “war” by suspending the agreement on avoidance of double taxation as of January 1, 2025. On June 1, 2024, Minsk had unilaterally suspended “the application of certain provisions” of this agreement. In Germany, the agreement covered income tax, corporate tax, capital tax, and trade tax, while in Belarus, it applied to income and profit taxes, personal income tax, property tax, and land tax.

The Federal Air Transport Agency of Russia revoked the flight permits for Russian airlines to Minsk. The agency issued an order making changes to previously granted flight permits for various routes. Notably, the order primarily consists of permit revocations – over 400 routes in total have had their permits withdrawn. Among the airlines affected on Belarusian routes are “Aeroflot”, “Nord Star”, “Pobeda”, “Smartavia”, and “Ural Airlines”.

A draft law “On amendments to laws on ensuring children’s rights” has been prepared in Belarus. It involves amendments to the law “On the Rights of the Child”. In particular, it is proposed to amend Article 14 of the law (“Duties of the child”). New duties have been added to it: respect the state symbols of the Republic of Belarus, preserve the historical memory of the heroic past of the Belarusian people, take care of their own health, lead a healthy lifestyle, exercise social responsibility, and make a feasible contribution to the development of society and the state. The draft law also amends Article 26 on the right of children to public associations by adding further limitations to it. It is assumed that the updated law will oblige parents to protect children from information disseminated on the Internet that allegedly harms children’s health and development, including by explaining to children the harm of such information, monitoring Internet use, as well as applying various technical measures to prevent the dissemination of such information among children. The suggested amendments are in violation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and are aimed at introducing additional opportunities for the indoctrination of children and preventing the formation of critical thinking in them, as well as additional tools for putting pressure on parents.

In November and December, mass arrests of ex-political prisoners, as well as relatives and friends of political prisoners for receiving “foreign aid” took place throughout Belarus. KGB officers conducted searches and interrogations, and protocols were drawn up against some of the detainees for “receiving foreign aid to carry out extremist activities”. Some administrative cases were considered by courts in December, while other trials will be held in January 2025. It is known that several persons were transferred to pre-trial detention centers within the frame of criminal cases against them.

On December 25, the Minsk City Court sentenced Dzmitri Kuchuk, the leader of the liquidated “Greens” party, to six years of imprisonment and a fine of 500 basic units (around 5,800 Euro). He was charged with gross violation of public order and calls for sanctions. Kuchuk was detained on February 16, 2024, the day of the death in custody of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, when Kuchuk wanted to honor his memory near the Russian embassy in Minsk.

On December 27, the trial in absentia of blogger and activist Anton Matolka began in the Hrodna Regional Court. He is charged with conspiracy to seize state power by unconstitutional means; organization of mass riots; organization of group actions that grossly violate public order; incitement of social hostility and discord; public calls for restrictive measures (sanctions), other actions aimed at harming the national security of the Republic of Belarus; threat of violence, slander and public insult of the President of the Republic of Belarus; discrediting the Republic of Belarus; creating and leading an extremist group; financing extremist activities; and high treason.

Those persecuted for donating money to “extremist” organizations are forced to repeatedly “compensate for the damage”. Pressure is exerted by the Department of Financial Investigations and the Main Directorate for Combating Organized Crime and Corruption of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The servicemen demand people to “compensate” their crimes by making additional payments, despite the fact that they have previously paid to the KGB. “Viasna” Human Rights Center reports that some of these people are being summoned to the prosecutor’s office to sign documents “before the elections”. Those who have left Belarus also receive summonses. Since 2023, those who actively donated have been called to the KGB with demands to make “voluntary” donations and threatened with criminal charges. A “pay off” by transferring money to a certain account identified by the authorities is, however, not a legal procedure and does not exclude the re-opening of a criminal case.

At the end of December, it became known that Aliaksandr Mazur, Pavel Karanyukhin and ex-political prisoner Aliaksandr Lykshyn were detained in Zhodzina on charges of creating or participating in an “extremist group”. They have been in detention since mid-November. According to the KGB, the detainees were related to the initiative “letter.bel”, a service for sending letters to political prisoners, which was recognized as an “extremist group” on December 3.

On December 28, Lukashenka pardoned 20 more persons convicted for “extremist crimes”. 11 of those pardoned were women, 14 had chronic illnesses, 10 convicts had children, and one woman had four children. Lukashenka’s press service claimed that “all of them applied for clemency and repented of what they had done.” The names of those pardoned were not announced. Since the summer of 2024, political prisoners have already been released seven times: on August 16, Lukashenka signed a decree pardoning 30 persons, on September 4 — 30 more persons, on September 16 — 37 persons, on November 7 — 31 persons, on November 20 — 32 persons, and on December 9 — 29 persons. Meanwhile, politically motivated trials continue to be held, and people continue to be convicted and sent to colonies and prisons.

The Minsk City Court sentenced Vyachaslau Kamisarenka, one of the most famous Belarusian stand-up artists, to six years of imprisonment in absentia. After the protests in Belarus in 2020, he repeatedly spoke out against the violence that the security forces used against the protesters, spoke about the falsification of the presidential election results, as well as parodied Aliaksandr Lukashenka. Kamisarenka was found guilty of inciting racial, ethnic, and religious hatred, slandering Lukashenka, and insulting Lukashenka.

Catholic priest Henrykh Akalatovich was sentenced to 11 years of imprisonment for “high treason”. 64-year-old Akalatovich, the rector of a church in the town of Valozhyn near Minsk, spent one year in a KGB pre-trial detention center prior to the trial, although he was diagnosed with a serious illness. The trial was closed, and the nature of the charges against Henrykh Akalatovich remain unclear. It is, however, known that he was accused of “causing damage to the state” for one million Euro. According to other sources, he allegedly passed secret information to someone. Akalatovich himself pleaded not guilty. There was no official information about the verdict. The state-owned Belarusian media did not write about it.

“Viasna” Human Rights Center recorded a record increase in repression in 2024. In total, at least 8,895 cases of repression were recorded, much more than in 2023. It is noted that human rights defenders do not receive all information about the repression due to public intimidation, which means that the real figure is much higher. A quarter of the convicts were women. Minsk and the Minsk region remained the most repressive part of Belarus — 2,772 persons were persecuted. The Brest and Hrodna regions were next in terms of the number of repressed — 1,925 and 1,363 persons respectively. Administrative cases have increased to 5,890, which is 2,000 more than in 2023. At least 1,721 people were convicted in politically motivated criminal cases. 1,019 people were convicted of participating in the 2020 protests under the charges of organizing and preparing actions that grossly violate public order, or actively participating in them, 380 people were sentenced for insulting Lukashenka or a government representative, 186 people – for inciting hatred. 109 Belarusians were prosecuted for facilitating extremist activities, 75 for calling for sanctions. There are currently 1,265 persons in prisons who have been recognized as political prisoners. The pressure on those forced to leave the country has increased. Among the practices used by the authorities are trials in absentia, threats, pressure on relatives, and persecution for participating in actions abroad. “The authorities seek to stifle any activity of people abroad and silence them. And the louder their voices are, the greater the pressure on them,” says “Viasna”. Experts attribute the tightening of repression to the regime’s preparations for the upcoming pseudo-elections.

In 2024, 3,152 persons were added to the register of terrorists and extremists. This was 72% more than in 2023, which is also a record. 2,232 persons were listed as “terrorists”, 920 as “extremists”, and 161 minors were added to the register. Four of them were born in 2010.

In 2024, courts issued 1,444 decisions recognizing information products as “extremist materials”. There were 888 such decisions in 2023, 637 in 2022, and 3,567 in total since 2008. That is, 40.5% of the total number of decisions since 2008 were made last year, according to “Viasna” Human Rights Center. With one decision, the court could recognize several resources as “extremist materials”. Today, there are 6,565 positions in the republican list of “extremist materials”. At least two thousand persons were convicted of distributing “extremist materials” in 2024.

At the end of 2024, a new wave of politically motivated dismissals for activism in 2020 began in the state-owned company Belaruskali. According to several sources, layoffs continued in 2025, persons are called to talk to management, after which they are fired “within one day”. They are fired for the events of 2020 — actions, comments on social networks, election observation, etc.

On January 4, information appeared that a new wave of employee checks had begun at the Rechitsa branch of state-owned company Belorusneft. Checks were accompanied by calls to the police, phone checks and threats. Special attention was paid to the events of 2020. Then, the staff of the branch participated in protests and recorded a video in support of dismissed colleagues from the Management of field and geophysical works. In 2021, about 20 persons, who were members of an informal management chat of the branch, were detained. Six employees were convicted, recognized as political prisoners, and have already served their terms in colonies.

On January 13, the trial of five former security officers will begin in the Minsk Regional Court. In August 2020, Dzmitry Udovin, Andrei Daroshka, Vyachaslau Ilyin, Ihar Kislyak and Vital Paprotski recorded a video message to the security forces, in which they called on former colleagues “not to act as punishers”. They are accused of inciting hostility and harming national security.

The BYSOL Foundation increases payments to political prisoners and those released from prison to 1,000 Euro. 100 Euro will be paid as a Christmas gift to each child of the political prisoner. For this purpose, at the end of 2024, Belarusians collected 25,116 Euro, exceeding the planned amount of 24,800. In total, in 2024, the BYSOL Foundation raised more than 600 thousand Euro for victims of the Lukashenka regime.

Since 2025, the BY_help Foundation is going to expand its activities for the comprehensive rehabilitation of former political prisoners to other countries. This was announced by Aliaksei Liavonchyk, the co-founder of the foundation. “[To receive help] will be possible not only in Poland, Lithuania or Georgia but also in other countries where there is a significant Belarusian community,” he specified. “Additionally, the BY_help team continues to help former political prisoners with legalization and basic integration,” he noted.

At the end of December 2024, the US State Department published updated recommendations for Americans who plan to travel to Belarus. “Do not travel to Belarus due to the Belarusian authorities’ arbitrary enforcement of local laws, the risk of detention, the continued facilitation of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the potential of civil unrest, and the Embassy’s limited ability to assist U.S. citizens residing in or traveling to Belarus. U.S. citizens in Belarus should depart immediately,” the notification says.

On December 23, Embassies of several Western countries in Belarus expressed solidarity with priests and believers who are being persecuted for their views. “This Christmas, we express our solidarity with representatives of the clergy and believers of Belarus who are being persecuted because of their views. Everyone deserves the right to express their opinion without fear. We demand freedom and justice for all,” the joint statement said. The Embassies of Germany, Slovakia, Great Britain, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Sweden, the USA, Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Ireland in Minsk and the Embassy of the Netherlands in Poland signed the statement.

Poland continues to actively support Belarus on the path to democracy. With the beginning of the Polish presidency of the European Union, issues related to Belarus will be raised at the highest level. Speaker of the Polish Senate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska stressed the importance of European unity and the readiness of the Belarusian people for future changes: “I wish you strength, courage, determination so that you know that we support you and we are also waiting for the moment when you can speak out and return to your country, which will be free.”

On January 6, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya held a meeting in Vilnius with PACE speakers on Belarus, General Rapporteur Ryszard Petru and Situational Rapporteur Emanuelis Zingeris. During the meeting, plans and priorities for cooperation for 2025, the drafting of a new resolution on Belarus and the participation of the delegation of the Belarusian democratic forces in PACE sessions were discussed. The main focus of the meeting was on the discussion of “no elections” in Belarus and the release of political prisoners.

On December 23, during a meeting with the Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin, Aliaksandr Lukashenka expressed confidence that “sooner or later” Europe would “open up”, as it allegedly cannot exist “without Russia and without us.” Lukashenka also believes that over time, both Belarus and Russia will begin cooperating with Kyiv: “They have no choice because, after all, we are all human. Life brings all sorts of things. But I think we will normalize relations with them.”

During the period under review, representatives of the regime actively discussed the upcoming presidential election in January, which has already been dubbed “Lukashenka’s election” by the public. Propagandists are making every effort to convince their audience that this event is crucial for the country, openly calling on voters to support Aliaksandr Lukashenka. In their view, he is the only person capable of ensuring “peace, prosperity, and stability” in Belarus. On December 23, ONT propagandist Ihar Tur, in his program called “Propaganda”, justified the authorities’ decision not to open polling stations abroad, claiming that “this topic is being exploited by enemies of our country.” “The main thing is to avoid turning the election, a calm electoral process, into an uncontrollable spectacle of lies and fake news. In Belarus, we can more than ensure this, while in the West, the local authorities, intelligence services, and media will do everything to aid the chaos”, Tur claimed. In turn, a pro-government expert Aliaksandr Shpakouski, on the eve of the New Year, thanked the “comrade president” for allegedly managing in 2024 to “preserve peace in Belarus and prevent our country from being drawn into the war zone” while achieving “sustainable economic growth despite the sanctions imposed by Western fascists”. Shpakouski expressed confidence in the success of the “current president in the upcoming election,” predicting that after securing victory, Lukashenka would lead Belarus through a “geopolitical storm,” as “he has the intellectual and physical strength for it.” It is worth noting that pre-election campaigning in Belarus began on January 1. That day, the “spoiler candidate” and pro-government politician Aleh Haidukevich posted photos of his campaign posters. One poster bore the slogan “We will not surrender Belarus!” along with the text: “The Americans do not need a peaceful and thriving Europe, let alone a calm and prosperous Belarus. They want us to be on our knees and ruined, like Ukraine. They won’t succeed!” The poster also featured a photo of Haidukevich making an obscene gesture, apparently directed at the United States.

Following a U.S. State Department advisory recommending American citizens refrain from traveling to Belarus and urging those already there to leave, MP Vadzim Hihin dismissed the advisory as a “typical provocation” aimed at “stirring up the situation.” “Some experts have speculated (at least in private conversations) that this statement could be linked to an upcoming counteroffensive by the Kyiv regime. They are in such an unstable psychological state right now that they could do anything malicious. But it seems our president will do everything possible to prevent such a scenario,” Hihin remarked. Aliaksandr Shpakouski echoed this sentiment, criticizing the Americans for their alleged lack of awareness and advising against overestimating the importance of State Department statements. However, he also warned that “the Anglo-Saxons often use such statements to announce upcoming crimes”. According to Shpakouski, the West “has not abandoned its course to overthrow the government in Belarus.” Yet, since Minsk “has scenarios for adequately responding to various developments,” he predicts the election will “inevitably result in a convincing victory for patriotic forces.” On December 29, Aliaksandr Lukashenka addressed relations with the U.S., asserting that Belarus is unfazed by the State Department’s statements. He remarked that “no one is forcing anyone to stay in Belarus” and noted that the American side has allegedly been requesting an increase in its diplomatic presence in the country for over a year.

Following the crash of an Azerbaijan Airlines Embraer 190 aircraft on December 25, Aliaksandr Shpakouski hastened to blame Ukraine in his Telegram channel: “The version that the crash of the plane en route from Baku to Grozny was caused by a drone attack launched by Ukrainian saboteurs is gaining traction.” According to him, “the Kyiv regime has already been officially accused of sabotaging the Nord Stream pipelines, caught red-handed conducting sabotage in Belarus, and is the organizer of terrorist acts, including the assassination of journalists in Russia.” Once again, Shpakouski attempted to convince his audience that “the existence of the Ukrainian regime in its current form poses a long-term security threat not only to Russia.”

In his New Year’s address to Belarusians, Aliaksandr Lukashenka spoke of the “completion of a generational transition” in the coming years, announcing that this would happen “in a wise Belarusian manner – relying on everything we cherish and take pride in.” He did not clarify what he meant by this transition. On January 3, he held a meeting with his campaign representatives, during which he claimed to have received “a high level of trust,” stating that allegedly 2.5 million signatures had been collected in his support. “I promise, if the people suddenly vote for us, I won’t let you down. You know, this is the heaviest burden for me. They say, ‘Father, Father, we trust you,’ and so on. This is the scariest thing for a president: trust must be fulfilled. Especially for me.” The dictator also announced plans to meet with the Central Election Commission to decide whether to invite Western observers to the election in Belarus. He argued that “Westerners” had already prepared their criticisms that everything is bad, there is no competition and particularly that Belarusian authorities did not turn the election into a “show”: “No shootings, no hits to the ear or the head, God forbid, and so on – so, this means it’s all bad. But you see, these are not the ones in charge. The people who will come here must have something human in them. They will see the real situation in Belarus. Yes, they want a show. We don’t; for us, elections are a serious event. Believe me, if we had to turn it into a show, we’d put on such a spectacle that the entire country would be roaring.” Lukashenka also mocked his opponents abroad, who he claimed had “incited the West,” sarcastically inviting them to “come and participate in the election” instead of “yapping from abroad.” He also urged members of his administration, regional leaders, and other high-ranking officials to “assist” election commission members and, where necessary, to “confidently involve” the police and military “to maintain order”.

Lukashenka’s confidant and head of the Belarusian Red Cross Society, Dzmitry Shautsou, described the current electoral campaign as being marked by the absence of the “rabid opposition” that, in his opinion, disrupted the “normal functioning and conduct of elections” in 2020. “It was difficult, sometimes impossible, to work with these people. They deliberately refused to listen, ignored arguments, and constantly made slanders. Such actions destabilized the situation. Now this is no longer the case, thank God,” he said after a meeting between Lukashenka and his trusted representatives. Shautsou also noted the “electrification of the political elites in various countries,” including Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, the EU, and the U.S., warning that “geopolitics” also influences sentiments in Belarusian society.

Best regards,
iSANS team