Shame On Belarusian Army

Lukashenka's generals showed their true colors.

In the past, the Armed Forces of Belarus were consistently among the leaders in surveys about the level of trust in all kinds of institutions. Meanwhile, citizens have noticed new traits in the army over the past two years, Salidarnasts reports.

The high trust in the Armed Forces was clear: their direct task is to defend the country in case of enemy attacks. However, one should remember another factor: in the past, representatives of the army leadership were in the shadows and did not make political statements, unlike, for example, the leaders of the Ministry of Interior.

In August 2020, everything changed. The trend was set personally by Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, who took objects in the center of Minsk under "protection" from peaceful protesters and managed to make several resonant statements during that period.

"We are encouraged. 'Do not carry out criminal orders'. They call for treason, breaking the law - not to carry out orders. Criminal, not criminal ... we are military people," Khrenin said.

A soldier of the military unit 89 417 of the Special Operations Forces Roman Gavrilov shot unarmed Gennady Shutov in Brest.

Early this year, the fame of the defense minister went far beyond the country. Thanks to statements addressed to his Ukrainian counterparts.

A few days before the war began, Khrenin "gave his word as an officer" in a telephone conversation with Ukrainian Defense Minister Alexey Reznikov that Russian troops on Belarusian territory would not be involved in the invasion of Ukraine, The Washington Post reported. Belarus did not deny the claim.

Khrenin continued to make political statements. In May, he said that "dozens of states that value peace and stability rather than aggressiveness and changing the political system of other states" would join the CSTO in the coming years.

The trend set by the defense minister was continued by the former chief of the General Staff, Oleg Belokonev, who is currently working as a "deputy" of the "House of Representatives. Last fall, at the funeral ceremony for Dmitry Fedosyuk, a KGB Alpha special forces officer, he called for "pummeling" of 20 or 100 people for each law enforcement officer.

"What kind of families those people were raised in. I think we're being too gentle with them and others like them. For some reason, they act beyond the law, and we try to do everything according to the law.

To talk to them, convince, persuade them according to the law. But, as Putin says, we must pummel everyone in the toilet: 20 or 100 for one," said Oleg Belokonev.

The general did not explain who he meant by "like them". Lately in his interview, Belokonev has made it almost clear: the statement that the Belarusian army serves the people is a myth.

It is clearly stipulated in the oath: the army does not serve the people. There is no such statement anywhere. It says: "One must be loyal to his people". But the people are not a million, it's 9 million 444,000. That's the majority.

"To carry out the orders of commanders and superiors unquestioningly, precisely and in due time”. Then one can assess it differently, the orders may be criminal or not, but that's how one assesses it, right?

The State Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Volfovich competes with Khrenin and Belokonov regarding the resonance of statements. His statements have been getting bolder lately.

"Things that happened in Bucha ... One can see when it's a fake situation, when allegedly killed on the road (one can see in the mirror) gets up and gets off the road," said Volfovich.

Despite all the evidence of crimes in Ukrainian settlements, the Secretary of State of the Security Council did not refute his words. However, it was not an isolated case. A month later, Ukraine called Volfovich's words about sabotage groups entering the territory of Belarus "fairy tales".

With the onset of the political crisis in the country in 2020 and the growing demand from the regime to intimidate society, the current and former leaders of the armed forces stopped standing on the sidelines and became part of the state propaganda. It is not clear how it may bring in future.

In the long run, independent sociological studies should show how the level of Belarusians' trust in the military has changed. However, judging by the statements of representatives of the Armed Forces, many citizens may have discovered a completely unexpected face of the Belarusian army.