One way to look at Belarus ruler Alyaksandr Lukashenka’s
claim last week that he was the target of a US-backed coup and assassination attempt is that this is just the latest in a series of conspiratorial rants by an increasingly beleaguered dictator.
But as is often the case in the former Soviet Union, upon closer examination, there appears to be at least some method behind all the madness.
Lukashenka’s claim that the plot was approved “by the top political leadership” in the United States came just days after Russia’s Federal Security Service had arrested two Belarusians, including one with US citizenship, and
Lukashenka Claims He Was Target Of Assassination Plot; Russia s FSB Links Two Belarusians To Alleged Coup
April 18, 2021 06:22 GMT
Updated
April 18, 2021 07:41 GMT
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Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka has claimed he was the target of a U.S.-backed assassination plot, and Russian intelligence said that two Belarusians detained in Moscow this week were allegedly linked to the plot.
In his announcement on April 17, Lukashenka did not provide evidence to back up his claim. U.S. officials did not immediately respond to the allegations.
But the head of Belarus’s main security agency, the KGB, tied the alleged plot to an online Zoom discussion room last summer that featured Belarusian experts, along with several former law enforcement officials, discussing the country’s political situation.
April 17, 2021
The International Democrat Union (IDU) strongly condemns the detention of Ryhor Kastusiou, Chairman of our member party the Belarusian Popular Front (BPF). This is another strike against the political opposition in Belarus, by Mr. Lukashenko’s regime, to silence the voice of freedom and democracy.
The State Security Committee of the Republic of Belarus (KGB) has confirmed the detention of chairman Ryhor Kastusiou and political analyst Alyaksandr Fyaduta amid an ongoing crackdown on dissent following the fraudulent presidential election last year. The KGB admitted that the two men were being held on unspecified charges, adding that detailed information on the cases will be provided later.
Yuras Zyankovich, who used to be a regional leader of the opposition Belarusian Popular Front (BNF) party and once sought to be its presidential candidate, has been living in the United States since 2007.
He is a graduate of Fordham University s School of Law in New York and is permanently based in Houston, Texas. Zyankovich frequently visits Belarus and actively takes part in the country s political life.
On April 12, the day of Zyankovich’s detention in Moscow, a noted Belarusian political analyst, Alyaksandr Fyaduta, went incommunicado in the Russian capital, where he works as a media consultant.
Moscow police said at the time that they had started looking for him after his relatives raised concerns about his whereabouts.