Belarus flexes military might as Lukashenko marks independence day

Columns of tanks, armoured vehicles, and rocket launchers drove through Minsk. They were accompanied by a march of hundreds of soldiers. Today, the regime celebrates Independence Day. "Thousands of Belarusians are calling registration and conscription offices and asking for weapons to protect the border," said the Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko.

The Belarusian regime is celebrating Belarus Independence Day today. Until 1996, this holiday was celebrated on 27 July to commemorate the declaration of sovereignty by the Supreme Council in 1990. Then, on the initiative of Alexander Lukashenko, Independence Day celebrations have been held on 3 July, the anniversary of the Red Army's occupation of Minsk.

Thousands of soldiers marched through the streets of Minsk. The crowd also admired military equipment. Earlier, military planes flew over the city. Belarus was flexing its muscles. Regime media also displayed a radiation warning sign on several rocket launchers, purportedly evidence of Belarus possessing Russian nuclear warheads.

The Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko appeared at the celebrations, stating that "thousands of Belarusians are calling registration and conscription offices and asking for weapons to protect the border."

"We talk a lot about weapons, weapons, ammunition, but the most important thing is our people, our people. Just yesterday, they felt the worsening situation on our southern borders, thousands of calls were made to military registration and recruitment offices and to units. 'Take us into the army, give us weapons, we will defend our homeland,' quoted their words Lukashenko. 'No need! Work calmly,' said the dictator, who on this occasion also scared Belarusians with the West.

Today's Independence Day celebrations are not recognised by the opposition and free Belarus, which celebrates Independence Day on 25 March. This so-called Freedom Day commemorates the establishment of the independent Belarusian state after the signing of the Brest-Litovsk Treaty (3 March 1918), under which, on 25 March 1918, the establishment of the independent state of the Belarusian People’s Republic was officially declared. Lukashenko does not recognise these celebrations.

According to the propaganda agency BelTa, leaders from Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, Serbia, Qatar, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, India, Vietnam, Pakistan, Thailand, Turkey, or North Korea congratulated the Belarusian leader and nation. Congratulations were also sent by Pope Francis, the Patriarch of Moscow, and all Rus' Kirill.