'Lukashenka Might Get Pushed Out At Next Stop'

By the common efforts of the passengers.

Last week, the Wall Street Journal published a video with satellite images of an object near the town of Asipovichy in Mahiliou region of Belarus. Analyses of these photos, as well as publications in the Belarusian media, suggest that Russia may have already brought its nuclear warheads there.

WSJ journalists started conducting satellite surveillance of one of the sites in Asipovichy district in the spring of 2023, Voice of America writes. A comparison of the fresh images and those taken a year ago revealed a number of differences that suggest that the area could be used to store nuclear warheads.

Thus, a year ago the site was covered with forest. And in the spring of this year, two additional rows of fences appeared on satellite images in place of the forest area. Experts have noticed that a fence of similar design surrounds the storage of nuclear warheads in Kaliningrad.

"In fact, the entire Belarusian sovereignty has already been transferred to Moscow"

Independent Belarusian journalist Mikhal Yanchuk, speaking about the tactics of Aliaksandr Lukashenka and Vladimir Putin, resorts to a figurative comparison:

"Even if they were not going to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, they would still say that they would do it, because the main problem of the 'tram bully' is that when he is no longer feared, he can be pushed out at the next stop by the common efforts of the passengers."

Lukashenka has big problems with maintaining the authority of the "tram bully" - he was not even invited to the forum "One Belt, One Road" in Beijing recently, putting the Belarusian propaganda in a very uncomfortable position, because Putin was there, but Lukashenka was not invited. And so Lukashenka is trying to prove by all means that he is a 'serious player' and that he has nuclear weapons stored somewhere," Mikhal Yanchuk shared his thoughts with a correspondent of the Russian service of the Voice of America.

On this basis, the expert quite assumes the presence of a storage facility with Russian TNWs on the territory of Belarus, noting that these weapons are not under the control of the Minsk regime head.

The process of surrendering the sovereignty of Belarus by Aliaksandr Lukashenka to the "big brother" in the person of the Russian Federation, according to Yanchuk, was programmed by his very coming to power. "It has always been so since Lukashenka became president in 1996 by holding an illegal referendum and falsifying its results. From 1994 to 1996 he was in power completely legitimately, and everything that happened after that was held under the motto "I'll stay here a little longer, and here is another piece of Belarusian sovereignty for you (for Moscow)." And this process is now coming to its logical conclusion, because in fact the entire Belarusian sovereignty, and de jure too, has already been given to Moscow. And now Russians, not Belarusians, are in charge here," said the interlocutor of the Voice of America.

According to his assessment, the residents of the Republic of Belarus obviously do not like it, and the arrival of Russian TNWs on their territory and the transformation of the country into a target for a retaliatory strike by NATO has caused indignation even among Lukashenka's supporters. However, he himself does not react to this, as he can no longer control anything. "And the further this situation develops, the more he needs to show that he is really a 'great statesman and defender of Belarusian sovereignty'," summarises Mikhal Yanchuk.

New Threats Can't Help Worrying Lithuania

Former head of the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces, reserve colonel Saulius Guzevičius notes that the Kremlin's intention to deploy Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus has been repeatedly discussed before.

"We can see only an assumption in the WSJ article so far, but it is not excluded that missiles are deployed in this place - the statements from the leadership of Belarus and Russia were quite clear. And it is very important for Lithuania to protect itself from such an unpleasant neighbourhood," the Lithuanian expert said in a commentary for the Russian service of the Voice of America.

According to Saulius Guzevičius, first of all, it is necessary to have a modern air defence to repel attacks of various kinds of missiles. Drones are also needed - both combat and reconnaissance drones, as well as systems to shoot down enemy UAVs and to provide mobile fire support for troops.

"Air defence comes first, so let's remember the situation in Ukraine and Georgia in 2008. As long as the air defence was working, they managed to defend themselves, and when the supply of missiles ran out, Gori was taken. A similar situation was with the airport in Hostomel - only air defence allowed to delay the landing of Russian paratroopers. Russian special forces occupied the airport, and there were already numerous planes with paratroopers on the approach, but Ukrainian air defence shot down two planes and the rest turned back," reminds the colonel of the reserve of Lithuanian special operations forces.

It is very unpleasant for Lithuania to be a neighbour of a country, on whose territory nuclear warheads are deployed, as it only increases tension, stresses Saulius Guzevičius.

"First there was a group of the Wagner PMC here, now this issue has been practically removed, now there are new threats, which Lithuania is not happy about at all. In addition, it is absolutely unambiguous that the management of these weapons (if it is really there or will appear) will be in the hands of Russia. This was mentioned earlier, and there was also such an assumption from our side, because it is very dangerous to hand over control of nuclear weapons even to an ally," emphasises the Voice of America interlocutor.

And at the end of his commentary he repeats, referring to the authors of the WSJ publication, that there is no precise information yet about what exactly is located in the Belarusian forests near Asipovichy.