Belarus in 2023

An echelon with Russian military equipment intended for a regional grouping of troops arrived in Belarus on January 6, TASS reports with reference to the Ministry of Defense of the republic. The day before, according to the agency, the Belarusian military department reported on the continued build-up of the regional grouping by Moscow and Minsk. The ministry noted that this is being done "in the interests of strengthening the protection and defense of the Union State."

Joint tactical flight exercises of aviation units of the Armed Forces of the two countries took place in Belarus with Russia.

In February, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko declared his readiness to fight with the Russians from the territory of the republic only in case of aggression against his country. This was reported by the BelTA news agency.

The prosecutor's office demanded that the leader of the Belarusian opposition Svetlana Tikhanovskaya be sentenced in absentia to 19 years in a penal colony and a fine of 37 thousand Belarusian rubles (about 1.1 million rubles). This is reported by RBC. Former Culture Minister Pavel Latushko, who was a member of the Coordinating Council of the Belarusian opposition, was asked by the prosecution to appoint 19 years in prison, as well as to ban him from holding positions related to the performance of organizational, administrative and economic duties for 5 years. For other members of the Coordinating Council, Olga Kovalkova and Sergei Dylevsky, the prosecutor requested 12 years in prison. In the presidential elections held in Belarus on August 9, 2020, Alexander Lukashenko won for the sixth time, gaining 80.1% of the vote. Tikhanovskaya, who decided to take part in the elections instead of her arrested husband Sergei, took second place. After the announcement of the results and the rejection of complaints, mass opposition protests took place in the country. Its leaders created a Coordinating Council, which was headed by Tikhanovskaya. Subsequently, the rallies subsided, and Tikhanovskaya, Latushko, Kovalkova and Dylevsky left the country. All the accused are charged with conspiracy to seize power by unconstitutional means, creation and leadership of an extremist group, public calls for sanctions, incitement of social discord. Also, a number of defendants are additionally charged with certain articles, for example, Tikhanovskaya is accused of treason against the state, Latushko is accused of corruption. A new trial of the oppositionist Tikhanovsky has begun in Belarus. The court of the city of Zhodino in the Minsk region has begun consideration of a new criminal case against opposition leader Sergei Tikhanovsky. Now he is accused of disobeying the administration of the correctional institution. At the moment, the oppositionist is serving an 18-year sentence in the case of preparing mass riots in Belarus in 2020.

Alexander Lukashenko and Xi Jinping held talks in Beijing. The Belarusian president supported China's peace proposals regarding the Ukrainian events. Minsk and Beijing intend to strengthen cooperation in the defense sector and fight terrorism. This provision is contained in a statement adopted by the parties following talks between President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko and President of China Xi Jinping in Beijing, BelTA reports. "As follows from the text of the joint statement, the parties will strengthen cooperation in the defense, law enforcement and security spheres, deepen cooperation, including in the field of military personnel training, joint fight against transnational and terrorist crime and terrorism, and conduct a joint preventive fight against color revolutions," the Belarusian agency reports. At the same time, both States intend to strengthen exchange and cooperation in the field of disaster prevention and mitigation. Belarus and China are also ready to intensify cooperation in the field of green, low-carbon and sustainable development.

On March 7, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko announced that he had ordered a "severe sweep" in the republic after the attack on the Russian A-50 military aircraft near Minsk. According to him, more than 20 people were detained in connection with the attempted sabotage in the country, "the rest are hiding" abroad. He noted that the main task of Minsk was to prevent the infiltration of a saboteur into Russia. Lukashenko also believes that Ukraine is trying to involve Belarus in a military conflict, "but it will not be possible to do so." Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of President of Ukraine Vladimir Zelensky, said on Twitter that the attack on the Russian A-50 long-range radar detection aircraft at the airfield in Belarus near Minsk was carried out by "local partisans." This is reported by Rambler. Lukashenko called Zelensky a "nit" after the detention of an alleged Ukrainian saboteur in Belarus.

Russian President Putin announced in an interview with Rossiya 1 channel on March 25 that the construction of a storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons (TNW) in Belarus would be completed by July this year. The President noted that Moscow does not transfer nuclear weapons to Minsk, but does what the United States has been doing for many years – deploying TNW on allied territory and training their pilots in handling it. Putin also said that 10 Iskander aircraft and missile systems have already been deployed on the territory of Belarus, which may be carriers of nuclear weapons. According to the Russian leader, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has long raised the issue of deploying Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The United States has long placed it in a number of countries, so there is nothing unusual in Belarus' request, Putin believes. The Head of State noted that Moscow and Minsk, outside the context of these events, agreed that tactical nuclear weapons would be deployed there, without violating obligations under the Treaty on Measures for Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic Offensive Arms (START III). Putin considers Western countries to be the "instigators and instigators" of the conflict in Ukraine. Russia is not creating any military alliance with China, so the West's claims about the formation of an "axis" of Moscow and Beijing are not true, the Russian president said.

President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, delivering a message to the National Assembly, proposed the format of an immediate truce in Ukraine. He believes that the fighting should be stopped without the right to move groups of troops and transfer weapons and equipment. The head of Belarus also criticized Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who signed a decree banning peace talks with Vladimir Putin. He considers such a decision by the Ukrainian president "ridiculous."

The Iskander-M operational and tactical missile system (OTRK), which can use conventional and nuclear missiles, was transferred to the Armed Forces of Belarus in April. This was stated by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.

A meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State was held in Moscow with the participation of the Presidents of Russia and Belarus, Vladimir Putin and Alexander Lukashenko. "Lukashenko said in the open part of the meeting that the day before he had discussed with the President of Russia issues of security, development of the military-industrial complex and defense of the Union State. He noted that the key areas in bilateral relations are industrial cooperation, integration in the energy sector, import substitution programs and reducing dependence on Western technologies. The West has begun to exert military pressure, building up NATO forces and assets at the borders, Lukashenko said: "They are especially concerned about the Kaliningrad region now." At the same time, he noted that now weapons have flowed into Russia from the territory of Ukraine, which then goes through the Bryansk region to his country. Lukashenko also said that it is necessary to create a "union media holding", since it is also impossible to lose the "battle for the minds and hearts of our citizens" on the fields of "media expressions". Putin also noted that measures are now being jointly implemented to minimize the damage from sanctions. The effectiveness of these measures is confirmed by the growing indicators of mutual trade. In 2021, the trade turnover between the countries increased by 35% to $40 billion, and in 2022 it increased by another 12% to $45 billion. A single integrated system for the administration of indirect taxes has been created, and the 2022 agreement on the recognition of technological operations is also being implemented, which made it possible to transfer the activities of industrial enterprises of the two countries to common standards. The creation of the united oil and gas markets of the two countries continues and an agreement on the formation of a single electric power market is being prepared for signing, Putin said. Russia and Belarus are increasing cooperation in the field of defense, security and military-technical cooperation," Vedomosti reports.

At a meeting with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko officially asked Russia to expand security guarantees against an external attack. Lukashenko defined the desired level of guarantees as "Russia will defend the republic as its own territory in case of aggression." According to Lukashenko, his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin has already expressed approval for the provision of such guarantees: "He absolutely supported me in all directions."

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