Russia blames ‘trained Ukrainian extremists’ for Belarus crisis

Russian spy chief claims that a certain section of Ukrainians started calling for peace and harmony in Belarus – fanning an anti-government rage

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New Delhi: In attempts to hold Ukraine responsible for the political crisis which has erupted in Belarus, Russia has blamed extremist and nationalist members of Kiev for stoking massive protests. Moscow shot the sensational allegation, after protests on Saturday, witnessed large-scale detention of people, mostly students and women, by security agencies in the capital Minsk. Opposition parties continued to press their claims that President Alexander Lukashenko had rigged the presidential election of 9 August.

Meanwhile, top opposition activist Olga Kovalkova, who lost to President Alexander Lukashenko in the presidential election of 9 August, has taken refuge in Poland amid jail threats.

According to the Head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, Ukrainian ‘extremists’ are trying to stir up trouble in neighboring Belarus, which has been gripped by mass protests since the presidential election, widely believed to have been rigged.

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In his statement, Naryshkin said that for Russians, this is not something strange and surprising. It would be strange and surprising if Ukrainian extremists and nationalists started calling for peace and harmony in Belarus. ‘The grief that they brought to the people of Ukraine, the residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions is obviously not enough for them. And now they want to spread this fire to Belarus as well. But this is not going to happen,’ Naryshkin was quoted by local news agencies.

The allegation of the Russian spy chief came a day after Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that about 200 well-trained ‘extremists’ had been sent from Ukraine to Belarus to destabilize the situation there.

Ukraine denies interfering in Belarusian affairs

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Government has denied all accusations that ‘elements from Kiev’ are interfering in the domestic politics of Belarus, branding them as ‘fake’. In an official statement, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said, ‘In connection with the latest false accusation of interference in the internal affairs of Belarus voiced by Lukashenko, we call on our Belarusian friends and partners not to succumb to informational provocation, so as not to fall into the trap of propaganda and fakes. There is no need to look for enemies where there are none.’

The Foreign Ministry also stated that ‘an exhaustive answer to the accusations of certain politicians about the alleged involvement of Ukraine in organizing protests in the Republic of Belarus’ was given a day earlier by Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, who said that Kiev’s administration has not conducted, does not conduct and will not conduct any subversive activities against Belarus.

Journalists Attacked and Arrested

In attempts to restrict international media from showing the real-time details of the developments unfolding in Belarus, the Lukashenko-led government continues to assault and arrest journalists – reporting on the domestic political crisis.

According to the Belarusian Association of Journalists, a female journalist working for an international website focusing on environmental news has been detained in Minsk. She was reporting on a protest march, which attracted several thousand women, the association told international media.

In another incident, two journalists of a Polish-based news television were detained while filming the protest. They were released later in the day. On 4 September, the Oktyabrskiy court in Minsk sentenced six journalists to three days in jail on charges of participating in unsanctioned rallies. They had reported on a student protest on 1 September. ‘The judicial proceedings occurred with full disregard for standards of fair legal disputes,’ the Belarusian Association of Journalists was quoted as saying.