The President of Belarus, often dubbed ‘Europe’s last dicatorship’, has accused Russia of lying after a team of 30 suspected Moscow sponsored mercenaries were arrested in Minsk.
Russia has dismissed claims that the ‘security contractors’ were involved in any form of conspiracy as ’emotional’ and has called for the mens’ release.
Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus for 26 years, is facing a tough election challenge on Sunday as the public lose faith in their strongman leader. Protests have already been mounted in the strict country over his poor handling of Covid-19, the weak economy, and alleged human rights abuses.
In a dramatic TV address, he warned viewers about the attempts of foreign ‘puppet masters’ to launch a proxy revolution in the geopolitically valuable Eastern European nation of 9.5 million people.
Russia’s alleged use of private military actors has been well documented in Ukraine, another regional power of immense strategic importance to an increasingly expansionist Kremlin.
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