"Siloviki Know That in Spring People Will Take to the Streets Anyway"

The former "statie" said that there are people in power structures who sympathize with the people.

Former detective of the criminal investigation department of the Mozyr District Department of Internal Affairs, Uladzimir Zhyhar, who resigned from the police after the 2020 presidential elections and served an administrative arrest in the Zhodzina prison, said that Lukashenka had not yet begun a full-scale purge of the Interior Ministry apparatus, BYPOL reported.

According to Uladzimir Zhyhar, who has joined the By_Pol initiative, there are still those in the bodies who "sympathize with the Belarusian people." And those who still hold power in their hands cannot afford to "cut out 30-40% of employees in the central office" in an instant. According to the former state trooper, these people simply cannot be replaced in the event of mass layoffs.

"In addition to the fight against civil society, there is also daily work, and they ask for it in full. You have to answer for failure to comply with certain norms. They punish with severe reprimands - excuses about the fight against the "opposition" do not work."

Zhyhar also said that many police officers who still remained in the service sabotage measures in the political search; moreover, they receive warnings from their wives that in the event of "detaining innocent people," they will receive applications for divorce. In general, Zhyhar considers divorces to be a common practice for a policeman since the working day is irregular, and the salary is not so large.

A former employee of the Mozyr ROVD repeatedly participated in meetings with Lukashenka and said that he had to spend many hours in the cold, rain, or snow while waiting for his arrival.

"Despite the positions and titles, they were raised at night and taken to the place of assembly. We stood there from 6-7 am, although Lukashenka himself flew in only at 9 pm. Just a day in the cold, they guarded a three square meters spot so that some dog would not run in front of the motorcade. And no one paid extra for this."

According to Zhyhar, the security officials know that "something will happen in the spring," so now they are preemptively detaining and falsifying administrative materials. But at the same time, they realize that "nothing will change, and people will take to the streets anyway." According to the former state trooper, acting employees of the Ministry of Internal Affairs must understand that it makes no difference who is in power - the police are always needed.