Western powers, along with Ukraine, are planning a coup in Belarus, according to President Alexander Lukashenko. He stressed that Minsk’s security forces are prepared for the threat and will not allow it to happen.
Lukashenko stated on Thursday at a meeting of Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) security leaders that a “violent regime change is being prepared” in Belarus.
He went on to say that “illegal members of armed groups are being trained in Poland, Lithuania, and, unfortunately, Ukraine.” According to Lukashenko, the operators seek to establish “sleeping extremist cells” in Belarus.
The president noted recent coordinated operations with Russian security services that purportedly resulted in the seizure of explosives.
“This means they’re not going to leave us alone,” he said.
Lukashenko said that anti-government Belarusians are fighting for Ukraine and gaining military expertise there.
He claimed that, unlike the 2020 protests, the West is now encouraging and paying the country’s opposition to participate in acts of armed violence.
Lukashenko warned other CIS member states that similar dangers could arise in the future and urged more security cooperation.
Late last month, retired general Waldemar Skrzypczak appeared on Poland’s Polsat TV channel, urging Warsaw to “prepare for an uprising in Belarus,” saying that “it will happen.”
“We must be prepared to support the troops carrying out the operation against Lukashenko.” “We have reasons to help them, just as we do Ukraine,” said the general, who was previously Poland’s deputy defence minister for weaponry.
In response to the general’s comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that Russia has a commitment to safeguard Belarus’ security, “which we will do in the face of such obvious threats.”
