Last Sunday, the Belarusian president reaffirmed his support for: that of Putin war effort in Ukraine. During a visit to Moscow, he told reporters that Minsk supported and “will continue to support” Russia in its “fight against Nazism”. The Belarusian leader stressed that his country would remain “together with fraternal Russia”.
However, his comments seem to have gone down extremely badly with his army’s officer class.
In an astonishing open letter to the President of Belarus, senior officers of the Fifth Brigade of the Special Forces warned their leader against sending Belarusian soldiers to fight in Ukraine, claiming that such a move would amount to ” pure suicide”.
In addition, they accused the Russian president of “destroying our sovereignty”.
In a caustic rebuke to Putin, the officers then reiterated their support for Ukraine, saying the two countries had always had friendly relations and denouncing the Kremlin’s war as “totally unprovoked.”
The soldiers wrote: “At present, officers of the Fifth Brigade of the Special Forces have observed the most serious violation of clause one of the Belarusian Constitution by the highest political leadership of Russia.
According to this clause, the Belarusian Republic retains supremacy and full authority on its own territory.
“It also enjoys independence over its internal and foreign policies.”
They continued: “Russia’s occupation of the internationally recognized territory of Ukraine, which is friends with our state, and its attempt to draw Belarus into a completely unprovoked war against a sovereign state can only be seen as the destruction of the sovereignty of Belarus.
“By going to war against Ukraine, Belarus will be expelled from the community of civilized states and will be an international pariah for many years to come.
“If you join Russia in its fight against Ukraine, it would be an act of sheer suicide.”
Minsk and Moscow have increasingly strengthened their ties in the wake of the massive political protests that erupted after Belarus’ 2020 presidential election.
Many commentators believe that there has been a de facto unification between the two countries.
It comes as Putin warned that Russia was “just getting started” in Ukraine and Moscow “hadn’t started in earnest yet”.
Speaking to the Russian parliament on Thursday, he also said the West was welcome to try and defeat Russia on the battlefield in Ukraine.
Putin said: “Today we hear that they want to beat us on the battlefield.
“What can you say, let them try. We have often heard that the West wants to fight with us to the last Ukrainian.”