The “Russification” of Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s authoritarian regime in Belarus continues apace.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry announced this week that it is moving a tank battalion to its Western frontier near the Polish border, a move that comes in conjunction with a menacing build-up of Russian forces in Kaliningrad and near the Ukrainian border.
Just days before that announcement, the Deputy Chief of the Belarusian General Staff Pavel Muraveiko said the massive Zapad-2021 joint military exercises with Russia in September will focus on fighting a “hybrid war” and will include offensive as well as defensive capabilities.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry, meanwhile, said it would close several embassies in Western countries, with subsequent leaks suggesting these would be in Poland, the Baltic states, and Ukraine. That announcement came just days after reports that Lukashenka and Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin spoke by telephone about the “threats” emanating from Poland and the United States.