For a Box of "Massandra"

It is difficult even to imagine what bottom of the moral mutation of this regime will open after its collapse.

"Kingdoms without justice are mere robberies, St. Augustine.

The grandiose scandal of the past week was the publication in telegram channels of audio recordings of telephone conversations of people whose voices are similar to those close to Lukashenka. On November 18, a recording of a telephone conversation appeared on the network, in which, as it is assumed, there are voices of the chairman of the ice hockey federation Dzmitry Baskau and Dzmitry Shakuta, who was mentioned in the abduction of the murdered Raman Bandarenka, could be heard. On November 19, an audio recording was made public, on which voices similar to those of Baskau and Lukashenko's press secretary Natallia Eismant are heard.

The conversation between "Natasha" and "Dima" is truly a document of the era. The content of the negotiations is very unpleasant and self-revealing for the authorities. The blow hit the bull's-eye; the regime is in a stupor, shock. This is evident in Lukashenka's reaction. He was confused, promised to tell the truth next week. In other words, it will take the authorities a whole week to prepare a version that would look believable and whitewash the people whose voices are heard on audio recordings.

But in the modern era, being a few days ahead of the enemy means winning the information war. And the version announced a week later, I think, will be of little interest to anyone.

I would not speculate about who recorded and leaked audio recordings of telephone conversations. Their content is more interesting because the voices and style of speech of the prospective interlocutors leave little doubt about their truth.

So what have we learned from these records if they are real? That the Ice Hockey Federation of Belarus, as well as the President's ice hockey team, are not only about hockey. This is a "roof" for a militant group created to deal with Lukashenka's opponents. Against the background of the discussion on the transfer of the 2021 Ice Hockey World Championship from Belarus to another country, this information is very relevant.

There is another important conclusion. For a long time, the Belarusian opposition was described in the words of a classic: a narrow circle of these revolutionaries, they are terribly far from the people. The same can now be said about Lukashenka's inner circle. Only the word "revolutionaries" should be replaced by the word "reactionaries."

Lukashenka recently said that 500 squads have been created in Minsk, which are carrying out a "sweep" in the courtyards, cutting off white-red-white flags, etc. So, now from these telephone conversations, it follows that there is only one squad. And it consists of people close to Lukashenka. "Order" in the courtyards of the capital is brought by the President's press secretary, who is responsible for ideological work in the state, the chairman of the ice hockey federation, and the deputy minister of internal affairs is the lookout. And all this is under the personal control of the head of the presidential security service, the head of the Interior Ministry. Moreover, the latter, as follows from the released audio recording, talked about the "operation" "it is clear with whom." Who could be higher than the then minister, you can easily guess. In other words, except for Lukashenka's closest circle, there is simply no one to do dirty business in the country.

Now about the moral side of this whole story. So, people from Lukashenka's inner circle have found a non-trivial way of entertainment. The participants in the operation consider it an adventure, a joke. So, travel around the city under police protection, hang out, "chill," refueled with wine "Massandra," presented by the Russian ambassador. As it was aptly noticed on social networks, "the servants began to go to the people on safari." This is the aesthetics of a noble lackey.

And those who will resist, then, according to the woman whose voice is on the recording, should be "taken" and "packed." "In the trunk," as her interlocutor remarked. All this was with a funny laugh. Against the background of the murder of Raman Bandarenka, this looks especially ominous.

Today, it is even difficult to imagine what a moral abyss, what a bottom of moral mutation of this regime will open after its collapse.

Valer Karbalevich sn-plus