Tikhanovskaya: Russia actually occupied Belarus
The leader of the Belarusian opposition said that Russia has effectively occupied his country by stationing troops and is using its authoritarian leader Alexander Lukashenko as its puppet.
During a two-day visit to the EU headquarters in Brussels, Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the government of EU leaders contributes to additional assistance.
“We are facing an adversary who denies the self-ownership of our country as a free and independent state,” she said.
The leader of the Belarusian opposition in exile fears that Lukashenka may switch the Belarusian army to a free force in Moscow’s war against Ukraine.
Russia had already used Belarus as a springboard to send troops and missiles to Ukraine earlier in the war.
Tikhanovskaya noted that the situation in Belarus has become “dramatic” as the country completely obeyed the wishes of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to her, Putin and Lukashenko “tried to increase and legitimize the permanent deployment of military personnel on the territory of Belarus.”
“This is an occupation,” Tikhanovskaya added. “We have a clear position: Belarus should officially refuse to participate in the Russian war, and Russian soldiers should definitely leave Belarus.”