Yauhen Afnahel: Military Men Despise Lukashenka

Belarusian soldiers and officers respect honest and determined people.

February 23, according to the Soviet tradition, is considered by Lukashenka and his generals to be the “Homeland’s Defender Day”.

On the eve of February 22, the dictator met with the cadets of the Military Academy. During the meeting, Lukashenka recalled history and the GDL. In addition, the dictator said that the “INF Treaty is not broken by Russia,” and promised a joint response, if the United States deploys missiles in Europe.

Can we say that Lukashenka is dragging Belarus into a nuclear confrontation between Russia and the rest of the world? Is the Belarusian military ready to obey such orders of the dictator? Coordinator of the European Belarus civil campaign, one of the leaders of the Belarusian National Congress Yauhen Afnahel answers the questions of Charter97.org.

- Let's start with the worldview issues. Why does Lukashenka hate the GDL? Many Belarusians consider this period the golden age of our history and statehood.

- From the very beginning Lukashenka behaved as a representative of the occupation administration in Belarus. All his deeds and words should be taken as actions of a “temporary worker”. Disregard for our history, language, traditions and symbols is conditioned by the logic of an ordinary colonial official, who has no need to associate himself with the territory and the people he controls. There have been many of them in our history over the past two centuries. Only their names fell into oblivion.

By the way, this is the weak point of the Belarusian dictatorship. Similar regimes in other countries tried to stress their ties with the people and relied on heroic examples of their history. Lukashenka is separated not only from the past of Belarusians, but also from how they live today. He failed to catch the moment when the collective farm Soviet political instructor, fighting with the GDL legacy and our ancient symbols, found himself in the minority, opposing the young and even older generation.

- You're a historian. In your opinion, what dates, names and events should the Belarusian military associate with our military honor?

- Belarus is located in the heart of Europe and has been attacked more frequently than many other countries on the continent. For centuries, our ancestors defended their freedom and defeated enemies that surpassed them in number and opportunities. Our history is rich with dates to be proud of. These are the victory on Siniya Vody in 1362, when the GDL troops beat the Tatar army and started liberation of the Eastern Europe from the Horde oppression, and the Grunwald battle of 1410 – one of the biggest battles of the Middle Ages.

It occurred so that Belarusians for the major part of their history had to fight for the independence from the Eastern neighbour. Here, we can recall not only the Vorsha battle of 1514, which was included into the European military art guides, but also the victories in Chashniki in 1564 and near Palonka in 1660. In the said battles, our ancestors were confronted with armies which were twice or thrice bigger in numbers, and the country’s independence was at stake.

The victories held during the anti-Russian uprisings were as heroic - from the liberation of Vilnius in 1794 to the battle near Milavidy in 1863. Not every nation can boast about uprisings and successful military actions against the most powerful empire in the world, which repeated every 30 years of the occupation.

Belarusians demonstrated the miracles of heroism also in the last century – the Slutsk Military Uprising and the Palesse Crusade of Bulak-Balakhovich forced the Communists to make considerable concessions to Belarusians, while the partisan struggle of our people against the fascists during the Second World War has no analogues in the world history.

There are more than enough decent dates to celebrate the Homeland’s Defender Day. We had to defend our freedom and our country way too often, and our ancestors were good in this.

- How would you comment on Lukashenka’s promise to Russia to give a joint response to the US missiles in Europe? Andrei Sannikov has noted recently that there is a possibility that Russia could deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus. Does the dictator’s statement confirm this?

- Lukashenka has always been and remains the most loyal ally of the Kremlin. Not even an ally - this word implies more or less equal relations - but an obedient executor of the will of his Moscow bosses. Therefore, as soon as Russia becomes aware of the need to deploy in our country new military facilities or weapons, this will be done immediately. The dictator fulfills all the important requirements of Moscow, not thinking about the national interests.

As for nuclear weapons, Lukashenka has repeatedly expressed his position, regretting its withdrawal from the country’s territory. And he did not hide why he needed it - so that “they would talk to us differently.” And given the fact that nuclear power plants are being built in Belarus; the infrastructure, mines and reserves of highly enriched uranium have remained from Soviet times, which makes the probability of deploying nuclear weapons is very high.

- During the dictator’s speech at the Military Academy, a cadet asked him whether he wanted to quit. How do you assess the moods in the Belarusian army? Are Belarusian officers and soldiers ready to die for Russia and the dictator?

- The level of support for Lukashenka in the army is the same as the average for Belarus. We live in one country, everyone is having similar problems. What kind of desire to die can we talk about? For what? For the constant humiliation by the officials or for a beggarly pension?

The military men despise Lukashenka primarily for the lack of respect for the army, which was cultivated even during the late USSR, for all this window dressing and dust in the eyes at parades and drills. After all, everyone knows the real state of the Belarusian army, when according to one of our activists, “in the event of an attack, 90% of the equipment will not be able to leave the hangars, because it will not start, and the soldiers will run away, because nobody has taught them to shoot.” I'm not even mentioning the generalissimo epaulettes, or the youngest son accepting the parades.

It should be noted that against this background, the level of support for Putin in the Belarusian armed forces is higher than that of Lukashenka. The Belarusian TV contributes to this, by broadcasting the Russian propaganda on a daily basis, as well as delivering information about salaries and prospects in the Russian army. This is a serious problem, one of the challenges the patriots of Belarus need to overcome.

- In Venezuela, the military partially took the side of the opposition leader Juan Guaydo. Herein, those who refused to serve dictator Maduro, state that 90% of the military men are disloyal to the usurper and are only waiting for the right moment. In case of the de facto duality of power in Belarus, is it possible that the army’s sympathies will be with the people?

- Much will depend on the people and their leaders. Soldiers, officers respect honest, decisive and brave people. Under any circumstances, their sympathies will not be with the dictator, this we can be sure of. Nobody will ever force a soldier of the Belarusian army to shoot own people – this is embedded in our mentality. Most likely, those who dare to give such orders will suffer first. The military will just sabotage the dictator’s imstructions, delay the fulfillment thereof. This is what the officials have been doing for quite a while, making Lukashenka freak out. Why cannot others take on this model of disobedient behaviour? It is not for nothing that Belarusians are called “the partisan nation”.

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