July 15, 2023 | The Telegraph
Putin’s soft underbelly is ripe for revolt
It's wrong to assume Russia's 'allies' will forever be loyal to Moscow - often the reverse is true. The West can exploit this
July 15, 2023 | The Telegraph
Putin’s soft underbelly is ripe for revolt
It's wrong to assume Russia's 'allies' will forever be loyal to Moscow - often the reverse is true. The West can exploit this
Excerpt
After the so-called “march of justice” against the Russian military, all eyes have been on Belarus. Often described as Europe’s last dictator, its leader Alexander Lukashenko serves as Vladimir Putin’s most loyal instrument on Russia’s Western flank. His decision to utilise Belarus as a means to rein in Prigozhin and his Wagner mercenaries underscores his efforts to fortify his standing in Moscow.
Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya warned that Prighozin “can bring this war to Belarus.” She is not alone. Putin’s decision to move Wagner mercenaries to Belarus, if it happens, also does not bode well for many Eastern European Nato member states. For instance, Poland is now securing its border. Parliament speakers of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania issued a joint statement warning that “the emergence of the Wagner mercenary group in Belarus could make the security situation on the eastern borders of Nato and the EU even more precarious.”
Ivana Stradner (@ivanastradner) is a research fellow at the Barish Center for Media Integrity at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focusing on national security and foreign policy.