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Belarusian Front
Prigozhin, Lukashenko and Putin’s War
The relocation of Yevgeny Prigozhin and the Wagner PMC to Belarus has once again turned this country into an important hotbed of instability in Eastern Europe. For the first time since the mass protests in 2020 against the stolen presidential election, Belarus is again in the spotlight. The country’s role in the further development of the Ukrainian conflict could become critical. If we remember the transfer of Russian tactical nuclear weapons to Minsk in June 2023, which was proudly announced by Putin and Lukashenko, this conclusion seems even more relevant.
What to expect from the presence of the Wagner PMC on the Belarusian soil? Will there be an open second front and will the tanks go from the north to Kiev, as it was in February 2022? It is clear that we have a new factor of instability in the region.
Svetlana Tihanovskaya, leader of the Belarusian opposition, made this point absolutely clear in her July 3 statement on the liberation of Minsk from the Nazi invaders in 1944.
“On this day in 1944, Minsk was liberated from the Nazi occupation. We are still fighting for freedom — now under the triple threat of Lukashenko, Putin and Prigozhin. We are fighting for the day when Belarus will celebrate a new Independence Day, free from tyranny and Russian imperialism,” Svetlana…