Lukashenko withdraws troops, faces backlash from Russian allies
Aleksandr Lukashenko under fire. The Belarusian dictator's decision to withdraw troops from the border region with Ukraine has sparked outrage among pro-Russian commentators on Telegram. Belarusians were labelled a "nation of traitors and parasites."
A wave of criticism against Aleksandr Lukashenko. And from a side he least expected. Russians are fuming over his recent decision regarding the troops stationed along the Ukrainian border. According to Onet.pl, at the end of June and the beginning of July, Belarus announced it was alerting part of its military and directing them to the border with its southern neighbour.
Lukashenko claimed Kyiv was trying to drag Belarus into the war. The tense atmosphere lasted for several days. Finally, Minsk decided to withdraw troops from the border area.
Russians criticise Lukashenko
The Belarusian authorities' decision did not sit well with the Russians. Pro-war Telegram channels heavily criticized Lukashenko and the entire nation of Belarus. Minsk was accused of playing a double game that would result in losing territory.
Russian propagandist Aleksandr Koc even polled to ask respondents whether Belarus is still an ally of Russia. The overwhelming majority said no. Negative comments also reached Lukashenko. The Belarusian authorities tried to clear their name, but this only led to a more significant wave of criticism against them.
We are descendants of a nation, which due to its territorial location and proximity to Moscow, has been exterminated many times, but we have never complained and we respect our fraternal unity - wrote "Belarusian Nightingale" on Telegram.
The AP Wagner channel responded to these words, with the author calling Belarusians traitors and parasites "artificially created by communists." They also accused them of wanting to betray Russia.
Emotional posts on social media do not bring any change to the political reality. Belarus remains an ally of Russia. According to some experts, it is even part of Russia or a "prosthesis" of it. It is worth remembering that after Moscow helped him maintain power, Lukashenko signed 28 "integration programmes" in 2021, which increased Putin's control over what happens in the western neighbour. In February 2023, "Rzeczpospolita" reported on a 17-page document that planned for Russia's complete absorption of Belarus by 2030.
