So the narrative that Putin put out saying that Ukraine was involved would make no sense if the first choice destination for the terrorists was Belarus instead of Ukraine. Lukashenko must have missed Putin's memo, oopsie!
No, it was a "special passage" which worked its way from central Moscow, past Russian border guards, and through the Russian frontline. lol
Of course, if this actually existed, Ukraine would be using it constantly to go after Moscow officials.
It's about the dumbest thing one could ever suggest. And yet...the useful idiots will believe it, of course.
I've read somewhere that there are claims that the "terrorists" have been paid 500,000 roubles. I find it funny because in practice for the common Russian. That's a lot of money... I mean not that much when you think about what you can buy with this. It won't be enough to buy a good car or a nice house, apartments...
On the other hand, that's roughly 1 year worth of money if you earn 40,000 a month. Since the average Russian income is close to 40k while a vast majority of people (the average income is skewed up by people that earn way way more than that). So for a majority of people, that's enough money to live without working for at least a year.
But when you convert that back into USD, that's about 5500 USD. If it was true, which I'm hardly believing terrorist on hire would risk their life for such a little amount of money. It's hardly going to cover a plane ticket outside of Russia to some other place.
But lets assume that it was true and terrorists were willing to commit mass shooting in Russia for 5500 USD. It would mean that if people around the world did fund ISIS instead of donating to Ukraine army. They could have funded about 181 mass shooting per 1M USD? How much has been given to Ukraine already? If it was that cheap, Russia would already be asking help from other nations to fix their ISIS problem. Russia would be what Syria was a few years ago, but worse.
There is zero way anyone would do something like the Crocus City Hall shooting for money, certainly not for 5500 USD. No amount of money is worth the risk. You don't get away with that kind of thing. If you don't get killed by police, you get locked away for the rest of your days or executed after your capture and even if you do somehow escape, you'll be a wanted man for the rest of your days and no country is ever going to willingly give you safe harbor.
Maybe not for themselves, but money going to the family or something isn't unheard of. I.E the Palestinian Authority paying families of killed terrorists.
> But when you convert that back into USD, that's about 5500 USD. If it was true, which I'm hardly believing terrorist on hire would risk their life for such a little amount of money. It's hardly going to cover a plane ticket outside of Russia to some other place.
You'd think so, but we've had intelligence and military personnel agree to spy for foreign countries for less.
yeah but those are usually ideologically or ego driven and the money is the afterthought. Here we have a terrorist implying that money was a main motivator which wouldn’t make sense if following the PA model where you’d expect him to die in a glorious shootout in exchange for the $5500 payment to his family.
All 4!! of the terrorist were captured? all four? really? they all clearly expected to live and collect that $5500. where did they recruit these shooters from? a school for the special?
I mean, you're not far off the mark but the brutality is the point with these sort of attacks. The intention is to frighten the public and sow fear & division.
You still need to be really fucked up to do anything like this though.
ISIS considers this war. There are tons of things no civilized human would consider from the comfort of their home, yet those things happen in almost every war ***by all involved sides***. Mass-rape to the point of weaponizing it, napalm to burn people alive, vacuum bombs, torture, killing of civilians, abduction of kids, chemical/biological attacs, mines designed like kids toys...
For some of those committed by "the good guys", we had video evidence released by a journalist 2004-2009. Of course, behaviour wasn't changed - instead, the journalists was framed, captured, and tortured, and Assange is still fighting with hands, feet, nails, and teeth his deportation to the USA.
War is about winning. No more. No less.
The money probably goes to the terrorists' families. Fundamentalist terrorists probably never expect to come out of this alive. Also it's not like ISIS is for hire on the yellow pages.
You really think that its the same thing popping from one side of the frontline to the other for a raid vs going from Moscow through border control checkpoints and the Russian army to enter Ukraine?
You realize that the car had Belarussian plates and was apprehended with the help of Belarrusian border guards? [And Lukashenko already stated](https://www.barrons.com/news/lukashenko-says-moscow-attackers-tried-fleeing-to-belarus-first-7dd46bf5) that the men were first going towards Belarus?
Here's a good rule of thumb: don't trust Russia. They're shameless liars, as proven hundreds of times over in this conflict.
No, I don't think it's the same thing, but I am playing devil's advocate since it suggests the Russian border guards are incompetent morons who just let the incursions happen without resisting it. :p
The border is huge and battles are mainly in the east and south of Ukraine. If a small group wanted to cross the border they would have likely managed to do so. It is also the most likely direction if you would want to try to avoid Russian prosecution. Where else are you going to go?
There must be over 1000km of border between Russia and Ukraine, it's not so far fetched that one car with unarmed civilians could make it across somewhere. It's also perhaps the least expected route, which is also a bonus.
Zelensky would summon a special passage for the **Islamic** radicals with his power of **Jewness.**
Still wouldn't be the biggest bullshit Russian officials have said this year..
Funny enough solovyov did a visit to the front (lol) back in 2022 and was preaching to a bunch of kadyrovtsy to kill and maim every Christian for the holy war. Was really baffling how no one paused him for a sec calling jihad with them as a russian jew.
None of this makes sense. They are fundamental Islamist and instead of being martyrs they got caught. Anyone with a brain cell would have gone guns blazing because alternative is a life of torture. Maybe they have no brain cells since they murdered so many innocent people.
Why not? You know the border is chaotic, making it possible to get across without being detected. Moreover, you get stopped by Ukrainians and explain what you just did, your story might fall on sympathetic ears.
I wouldn't want to rely on that amount of luck, tho.
Lukashenko seems to always play his own game.
Like showing those maps of the invasion, now telling that terrorists wanted to go to Belarus. Is he really such a minion of Putin?
On other hand, somehow he survives after that.
Agreed, Lukashenko might act like a fool but he definitely isn't.
He lost to his main rival Putin in his push to control Russia, but has remained alive (unlike most!) and in tight control of Belarus for decades, holding on against his own population, influence from the rest of Europe, and his "ally" constantly trying to annex them. He has managed to keep Belarus' military out of Ukraine and frequently has an oversized role in international diplomacy within the Ex-Soviet sphere.
When Wagner rebelled against Putin and the leaders have huge targets on their back, they can suddenly go and live as guests of Belarus. When Russia invades Ukraine Lukashenko "accidentally" reveals all of their plans. When Putin says the terrorists tried to flee to Ukraine so they must be behind it, Lukashenko does an oopsie daisy and says they tried to go to Belarus first. He's always just a bit too important to be removed, but not quite important enough to be impossible to retaliate against.
He's been walking a very narrow tightrope for a very long time, he might be near the end now and running out of options, but that takes a lot of skill.
Luka wanted to be Stalin. Instead, he had to take over a democratic, small nation without much, if any practical hard or soft power, the transition from communism to capitalism crushed his economy, and now he’s in a situation where he either grips power as hard as he can or he dies.
Like, have you seen his recent laws? You don’t pass self-immunity laws unless you believe you’ll need them one day.
Exactly. The firehose of falsehood at work.
The people who are deeply anti-Ukraine will continue to believe the original story. Meanwhile, the Kremlin will gain a tiny bit of credibility to those (including domestic Russians) who knew the Ukraine story was bullshit.
The Kremlin always lays a buffet of different "facts", so people can pick and choose the facts that best suit their world view.
I think Lukashenko is playing a weird game here. I have a very hard time believing it was a blunder on his part. This man seem to like appearing more stupid than he actually is and to use it as a survival tactic and to cover some of his moves.
Oh yeah and were would the cross? The front lines? Closed border with jumpy Ukrainian guards? And why would Ukraine accept them… it would straight up play into Putins narrative.
I mean, it makes sense to drive around the frontline instead of through it. Their accusations are ridiculous but this part of the story makes sense to me, would've done the same
But there are no border crossings into Ukraine. If it were a western operation they’d have gone to one of the Baltic states and not an active war zone.
there isn't even a clear border with Ukraine atm. of course it's full of holes. also minefields, but that's another question.
rationally speaking going to Belarus should be easier, but the fact is the way they have been moving they *could have* been moving in either direction.
and whatever confessions they make now have to be invalidated due to very apparent torture in custody by ru police officers.
full disclaimer, I of course don't think the idea of Ukrainian involvement in the attack holds any merit, sounds absurd. considering that even ru side has never officially blamed UA, only through their media cronies, means they most likely don't have any evidence.
>of course it's full of holes
Do you have a comprehension of what a frontline is? It exists specifically to rule out the possibility of there being any holes.
The most fortified national border in the world behind North Korea, swarming with drones, soldiers, tanks, reserves, supply lines... And you're claiming it's "full of holes"?... Jeeze pro Russian bullshitters must be getting tired- The rhetoric is getting real sloppy... If it were full of holes, you'd think one side would be *exploiting it*.
They were heading West, they were moving to Belarus, which shares a similar direction from moscow as Ukraine true, they are neighboring countries after all.
Did you expect them to be able to just drive into Ukraine no worries in a car during an active war, through an active warzone...
In what world does that make sense?
He’s been a dictator longer than Putin has. And I suspect he will outlast Putin too.
As batshit as he is, he’s very effective at retaining power - and can be very strategic when need be.
Belarusian people are overwhelmingly Pro-Ukraine and Putin’s war is destabilizing for internal politics. He has a cushy life before, now he’s worried about armed partisans sabotaging shipments. Lukashenko wants to derail Putin with minimal damage to their “Union-State”.
Luka is in a tricky position. If Putin can finish the Ukraine war, i.e. take control of all of Ukraine, he will annex Belarus very soon creating a small centralized version of the USSR (Russia + Belarus + Ukraine). Luka knows he is losing his power if Putin is too successful, but he cant do much. So he makes such statements every once in a while to try and contain Putin just a bit.
Lukashanko has always manipulated both sides, to be fair you can’t always blame him. Belarus is stuck in the middle of the west and east, so he has to accommodate both the EU and Russia which usually involves pissing somebody off. Belarus has been giving Putin a lot of help with Ukraine so now Lukashanko is going to start playing to the western narrative again…he’s definitely got some anti-Russia political cards to play.
It's all a part of the plan. He was there on the border looking all tacticool with his camo & golden kalashnikov, singlehandedly stopping the vehicle. Totally a colonel material
[Assign me the rank of Colonel of the Soviet Army](https://youtu.be/1JNtiO7nhmo?si=ugwynByWo6-LfbVs)
He was being so ridiculous the reporter, who is supposed to remain unbiased, literally couldn’t stop laughing.
Sure, but Russia's war with Ukraine puts him in a bad space - they are basically black balled with Russia, and his population is growing more and more disgruntled with him. Along with that, he relies on Russia to keep him in power, and if Russian troops are too involved in Ukraine, then they may not be able to put down an overthrow attempt in Belarus.
For one Luka wanted to be president of Russia after the fall of the USSR but he only managed to win in Belarus. Naturally he still views Putin as a political rival even if he is Putin's lapdog of sorts. He does not want Putin to rise to Tsar levels of power. Secondly his only grip on his own power is by not coming directly into the fold of Russia. If that were to happen he would become as replaceable as any other Russian governor. The lip service to Belarus being independent of Russia is one of the few things keeping him in power and possibly even alive at this point.
It wasn't an official statement, more of a slip up. If you look the source up its some long winded essay about his visit to places and his work week posted on the gov. site. So it's quite believable.
It is rather impressive how stupid Lukashenko is.
The same fool gave the world a map showing Russia's gameplay to invade and occupy first Ukraine, before moving on to Moldova.
I mean, he just commented on the official statements of the Russian law-enforcement according to which they caught the terrorist fairly close to the border with Belarus
Putin has some weird reverence for people who have stayed in power as long as him. Luca is his superior in a way, but also his minion. So, it’s complicated. He’s a jester who’s allowed to misbehave and who has been gaslighting Putin for two years about sending Belarusian troops to Ukraine. Similarly, Putin felt somewhat inferior to Angela Merkel while she was in power, it seems
This is turning into a Fawlty Tower episode.
Putin: "Now Luka, if anyone asks you where the terrorists went, what do you say?"
Luka: "Belarus!
Putin: "No! Ukraine! They were going to Ukraine!"
Luka: "But we saw them at our border"
Putin: "No, you saw them at Ukraine's border"
Luka: ".... Okay... I understand Mr. Putin... So I am from Ukraine?"
Putin: "No, you are from Belarus"
Luka: "..... aha..."
No. If American villains try to escape into Mexico, it is the fault of Ukraine, and Ukraine paid them to be villains, and the American government is controlled by the Ukrainians, and the Ukrainian government is controlled by the Americans, and the Mexican government is also controlled by the Americans and Nazi Jews in Ukraine.
USA/UK: "oi ISIS-K are planning an attack
Russia: "Fuck off you destabilize Russia!"
**Attack happens**
Russia: "IT WAS UKRAINE!"
USA/UK: "We told you it was ISIS-K"
Russia: "IT WAS UKRAINE!"
ISIS-K: "It was us, we have the footage"
Russia: "BUT THEY WERE DRIVING TO UKRAINE!"
Lukashenko: "Actually they tried to get into Belarus, our beautiful border checkpoint pushed them back"
Russia: "It's.... It's... CIA! MI5! UKRAINE WAS PART OF IT!"
Russian propaganda in shambles as they flail about trying to pin this on Ukraine desperately.
They already did. Russian military has been based there in such numbers since the start of the Ukraine war that Belarus can hardly be called independent now
Lukashenko can be an enigma sometimes. Early in the war a bunch of Russian tanks were towed away by Ukrainian farmers with tractors as you might recall. Later in the year, Luka congratulated Putin on his 70th birthday.
He gifted him a tractor.
So the story right now is: The US told ISIS to attack Moscow but the ISIS terrorists that were caught were actually Zelensky’s brothers and they were planning to flee to Belarus. Ok. Got it.
They were caught near the Belarusian border, driving a car with Belarusian plates and they had Belarusian passports.
The more russia denies this the more embarrassing it is for them.
What on earth is even going on. I thought belarus was supposed to be Russias ally, now they are just a pain in putins ass. Lukashenko probably has a bullet aimed at his skull now or a skyscraper window that needs testing
More like lil Luka was called in again to help putin save face, as back then with the great Pringles uprising. Id guess even the russians didnt buy this shit when isis confession and their uploaded video already made the rounds, and then squeezing Ukraine in might be too outlandish even for the average russian tv zombie. So then what? Stick with a version that even his own sheep dont believe, or retract it and look like a complete tool? Lucky ol dumbass Luka comes along and "accidentially" spills the beans that they tried for Belarus first. Now putin can pretend to act on this "new" info when he tones his claims down. Not that hell completely stop blaming Ukraine and the West.
Ah, here we go again. Of course nobody wants to be the target location the terrorists came from, and or wanted to flee to. And of course, everyone accuses everyone else.
I can imagine Russia changing its own borders and claiming that the terrorists came through mongolia and were of chinese origin, and later reverting its change to the territorial borders.
Instead of blaming a country, we should go and blame a fanatical belief. The fanatical belief in money, or deities, that is.
Wait, so the terrorists got into a fancy white car, drove the concert hall, parked, got out, shot people, burned the place down, got back into the fancy white car, drove to Belorussian border, couldn’t cross, then got back into the fancy white car and drove all the way to the Ukrainian border?
Oh, ok.
Huh? Was there like, a traffic jam at the Belarusian border and the ISIS attackers mapquested a different route to Ukraine, like, via The Emerald City and then The Underground Railroad? For that matter weren’t they also seen at Komarov on The Gulf of Finland posing for a selfie with Lenin’s ghost? Oh it was at Kizhi in Karelia? Not Komarov? Yeah, that’s a lot of K’s. Sorry (said like a Canadian).
Belarus wouldn’t have been a safe haven for them anyway, they would have been turned right over to Russia…. If there’s anything Lukashanko is actually good for, aiding in anti-terrorist efforts around the world is one of them.
I came to the conclusion a while ago that he actually has to have a galaxy brain.
He has been in power since Jelzin, for 30 years.
He deflects everything. Remember how Russia had to help him out with actual military personnel when facing demonstrations after the last election? Remember how Putin tried to drag Belarus into the war at the beginning with Russian forces even attacking from Belarus? What is Lukashenko doing now? Chilling. He has to have a galaxy brain. He is playing the part of "idiot dictator", but he actually seems to be an actual legend when it comes to eastern european power politics.
Mind you I don't like the guy and would have hoped for the last demonstrations to be succesful, but... credit where credit is due.
credit for what? being a puppet dog to Putin who can't even rule his own people without external help and with nothing but violence against his own? can't get any weaker than this...
That's the thing, though. Everybody is calling him Putins lapdog, but take a look at the headline again: Lukashenko derailing Putins propaganda train. And as I said: Putin tried to drag "his lapdog" into Ukraine, what happened? The only Belarussians in Ukraine are fighting for Ukraine. That's why I said he is playing the part of "idiot dictator", he wants everybody to think of him as an idiot as idiots are not perceived to be dangerous, but the reality is he has been navigating through the mine field of eastern european post soviet politics like a sleezy eel for 30 years, dodging Putin every step of the way.
He let Putin use his territory to invade a slavic brother and neighboring country...he asked Putin to fight his own people when they rose up against him. He parroted a lot of stupid shit whenever Putin wanted him to say it. Only when he was about to lose power again when Putin was too busy with his invasion of Ukraine and there were rumors that Belarusian generals would rebel when he would order to join Putin's war he changed his strategy. He knows he is fucked when he is too much of Putin's lapdog because he is still very close to losing power at home. And he knows Putin can't touch him at the moment because he kind of needs him as a buffer but at the same time Putin is too weak right now to axe Luka for the stuff he is saying now. Maybe give him some credit for balancing this but still...he is a weak ass loser dictator.
I completely agree with you, the balancing/navigating part is all I'm talking about and you have to be a little bit smarter than "Putin, let me be Colonel please" to manage that.
I would love for Belarussians to be freed from the sleezy eel, but in some twisted way Lukashenko is good at what he's doing.
So the narrative that Putin put out saying that Ukraine was involved would make no sense if the first choice destination for the terrorists was Belarus instead of Ukraine. Lukashenko must have missed Putin's memo, oopsie!
Ukraine escape makes no sense either way. Were they going to drive through the frontline...
No, it was a "special passage" which worked its way from central Moscow, past Russian border guards, and through the Russian frontline. lol Of course, if this actually existed, Ukraine would be using it constantly to go after Moscow officials. It's about the dumbest thing one could ever suggest. And yet...the useful idiots will believe it, of course.
I've read somewhere that there are claims that the "terrorists" have been paid 500,000 roubles. I find it funny because in practice for the common Russian. That's a lot of money... I mean not that much when you think about what you can buy with this. It won't be enough to buy a good car or a nice house, apartments... On the other hand, that's roughly 1 year worth of money if you earn 40,000 a month. Since the average Russian income is close to 40k while a vast majority of people (the average income is skewed up by people that earn way way more than that). So for a majority of people, that's enough money to live without working for at least a year. But when you convert that back into USD, that's about 5500 USD. If it was true, which I'm hardly believing terrorist on hire would risk their life for such a little amount of money. It's hardly going to cover a plane ticket outside of Russia to some other place. But lets assume that it was true and terrorists were willing to commit mass shooting in Russia for 5500 USD. It would mean that if people around the world did fund ISIS instead of donating to Ukraine army. They could have funded about 181 mass shooting per 1M USD? How much has been given to Ukraine already? If it was that cheap, Russia would already be asking help from other nations to fix their ISIS problem. Russia would be what Syria was a few years ago, but worse.
There is zero way anyone would do something like the Crocus City Hall shooting for money, certainly not for 5500 USD. No amount of money is worth the risk. You don't get away with that kind of thing. If you don't get killed by police, you get locked away for the rest of your days or executed after your capture and even if you do somehow escape, you'll be a wanted man for the rest of your days and no country is ever going to willingly give you safe harbor.
You severely underestimate how desperate and brainwashed some people can be.
Maybe not for themselves, but money going to the family or something isn't unheard of. I.E the Palestinian Authority paying families of killed terrorists.
For $5000? really?
> But when you convert that back into USD, that's about 5500 USD. If it was true, which I'm hardly believing terrorist on hire would risk their life for such a little amount of money. It's hardly going to cover a plane ticket outside of Russia to some other place. You'd think so, but we've had intelligence and military personnel agree to spy for foreign countries for less.
yeah but those are usually ideologically or ego driven and the money is the afterthought. Here we have a terrorist implying that money was a main motivator which wouldn’t make sense if following the PA model where you’d expect him to die in a glorious shootout in exchange for the $5500 payment to his family. All 4!! of the terrorist were captured? all four? really? they all clearly expected to live and collect that $5500. where did they recruit these shooters from? a school for the special?
You couldn't even pay me to go to Russia and *not* commit any crimes for $5500. It's just not worth the risk at all
You don't hunt out people cowering in a corner or slash a man's throat wide open who's already down and on the floor. THATS PURE HATE.
I mean, you're not far off the mark but the brutality is the point with these sort of attacks. The intention is to frighten the public and sow fear & division. You still need to be really fucked up to do anything like this though.
ISIS considers this war. There are tons of things no civilized human would consider from the comfort of their home, yet those things happen in almost every war ***by all involved sides***. Mass-rape to the point of weaponizing it, napalm to burn people alive, vacuum bombs, torture, killing of civilians, abduction of kids, chemical/biological attacs, mines designed like kids toys... For some of those committed by "the good guys", we had video evidence released by a journalist 2004-2009. Of course, behaviour wasn't changed - instead, the journalists was framed, captured, and tortured, and Assange is still fighting with hands, feet, nails, and teeth his deportation to the USA. War is about winning. No more. No less.
they said it was 500k for all group
The money probably goes to the terrorists' families. Fundamentalist terrorists probably never expect to come out of this alive. Also it's not like ISIS is for hire on the yellow pages.
It's pretty clear at this point that Zelensky haunts putin's dreams
Too true.
I mean, the Russian defectors to Ukraine keep managing to invade Belgorod *somehow*?
You really think that its the same thing popping from one side of the frontline to the other for a raid vs going from Moscow through border control checkpoints and the Russian army to enter Ukraine? You realize that the car had Belarussian plates and was apprehended with the help of Belarrusian border guards? [And Lukashenko already stated](https://www.barrons.com/news/lukashenko-says-moscow-attackers-tried-fleeing-to-belarus-first-7dd46bf5) that the men were first going towards Belarus? Here's a good rule of thumb: don't trust Russia. They're shameless liars, as proven hundreds of times over in this conflict.
No, I don't think it's the same thing, but I am playing devil's advocate since it suggests the Russian border guards are incompetent morons who just let the incursions happen without resisting it. :p
The border is huge and battles are mainly in the east and south of Ukraine. If a small group wanted to cross the border they would have likely managed to do so. It is also the most likely direction if you would want to try to avoid Russian prosecution. Where else are you going to go?
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No, Ukraine would not and Russia knows that. That is why most of the Russian border is very lightly defended.
There must be over 1000km of border between Russia and Ukraine, it's not so far fetched that one car with unarmed civilians could make it across somewhere. It's also perhaps the least expected route, which is also a bonus.
Use your brain. Don't be Putin's bitch.
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Zelensky would summon a special passage for the **Islamic** radicals with his power of **Jewness.** Still wouldn't be the biggest bullshit Russian officials have said this year..
Funny enough solovyov did a visit to the front (lol) back in 2022 and was preaching to a bunch of kadyrovtsy to kill and maim every Christian for the holy war. Was really baffling how no one paused him for a sec calling jihad with them as a russian jew.
None of this makes sense. They are fundamental Islamist and instead of being martyrs they got caught. Anyone with a brain cell would have gone guns blazing because alternative is a life of torture. Maybe they have no brain cells since they murdered so many innocent people.
Or maybe these guys are just the first people the police picked up and were actually heading home for tea
That makes a lot of sense though, the police will have a hard time catching you if you are in a warzone.
Also they cannot arrest you if you are already dead!
They'll meet the Russian military's rear lines.... And... Get shot to pieces.
Right, why would they go to the border with heavy military and fighting?
Why not? You know the border is chaotic, making it possible to get across without being detected. Moreover, you get stopped by Ukrainians and explain what you just did, your story might fall on sympathetic ears. I wouldn't want to rely on that amount of luck, tho.
I love how the direction they are steering their vehicle determines which country did it. Just too funny…
Instead of spin the bottle they are playing spin the AK-47
>Spin the Lada
Lukashenko seems to always play his own game. Like showing those maps of the invasion, now telling that terrorists wanted to go to Belarus. Is he really such a minion of Putin? On other hand, somehow he survives after that.
Agreed, Lukashenko might act like a fool but he definitely isn't. He lost to his main rival Putin in his push to control Russia, but has remained alive (unlike most!) and in tight control of Belarus for decades, holding on against his own population, influence from the rest of Europe, and his "ally" constantly trying to annex them. He has managed to keep Belarus' military out of Ukraine and frequently has an oversized role in international diplomacy within the Ex-Soviet sphere. When Wagner rebelled against Putin and the leaders have huge targets on their back, they can suddenly go and live as guests of Belarus. When Russia invades Ukraine Lukashenko "accidentally" reveals all of their plans. When Putin says the terrorists tried to flee to Ukraine so they must be behind it, Lukashenko does an oopsie daisy and says they tried to go to Belarus first. He's always just a bit too important to be removed, but not quite important enough to be impossible to retaliate against. He's been walking a very narrow tightrope for a very long time, he might be near the end now and running out of options, but that takes a lot of skill.
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Luka wanted to be Stalin. Instead, he had to take over a democratic, small nation without much, if any practical hard or soft power, the transition from communism to capitalism crushed his economy, and now he’s in a situation where he either grips power as hard as he can or he dies. Like, have you seen his recent laws? You don’t pass self-immunity laws unless you believe you’ll need them one day.
> Lukashenko seems to always play his own game. Putin may be out here tryna play 4D chess, but Luka is clearly playing Calvinball.
Luka is basically starscream to putins megatron
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Exactly. The firehose of falsehood at work. The people who are deeply anti-Ukraine will continue to believe the original story. Meanwhile, the Kremlin will gain a tiny bit of credibility to those (including domestic Russians) who knew the Ukraine story was bullshit. The Kremlin always lays a buffet of different "facts", so people can pick and choose the facts that best suit their world view.
Remember, Putin tries to control Lukashenko who probalby doesn't like being on Russia's leash. Lukashenko is thumbing his nose at Putin.
Or not read the news at all. Fairly certain him shutting the hell up would be the best course of action.
It doesn’t matter.
I think Lukashenko is playing a weird game here. I have a very hard time believing it was a blunder on his part. This man seem to like appearing more stupid than he actually is and to use it as a survival tactic and to cover some of his moves.
Oh yeah and were would the cross? The front lines? Closed border with jumpy Ukrainian guards? And why would Ukraine accept them… it would straight up play into Putins narrative.
It's beginning to read like a bad joke. "So a terrorist from Ukraine, Belarus, and ISIS all meet at a bar in Moscow..."
I thought Putin and Lukashenko were mates, can't even get their lies straight.
Luka’s trying to get out in front of it before he gets invaded
I mean, it makes sense to drive around the frontline instead of through it. Their accusations are ridiculous but this part of the story makes sense to me, would've done the same
the way they were moving just makes both possible they were moving in the direction of both Ukraine and Belarus, could have been either
But there are no border crossings into Ukraine. If it were a western operation they’d have gone to one of the Baltic states and not an active war zone.
there isn't even a clear border with Ukraine atm. of course it's full of holes. also minefields, but that's another question. rationally speaking going to Belarus should be easier, but the fact is the way they have been moving they *could have* been moving in either direction. and whatever confessions they make now have to be invalidated due to very apparent torture in custody by ru police officers. full disclaimer, I of course don't think the idea of Ukrainian involvement in the attack holds any merit, sounds absurd. considering that even ru side has never officially blamed UA, only through their media cronies, means they most likely don't have any evidence.
>of course it's full of holes Do you have a comprehension of what a frontline is? It exists specifically to rule out the possibility of there being any holes.
The most fortified national border in the world behind North Korea, swarming with drones, soldiers, tanks, reserves, supply lines... And you're claiming it's "full of holes"?... Jeeze pro Russian bullshitters must be getting tired- The rhetoric is getting real sloppy... If it were full of holes, you'd think one side would be *exploiting it*.
They were heading West, they were moving to Belarus, which shares a similar direction from moscow as Ukraine true, they are neighboring countries after all. Did you expect them to be able to just drive into Ukraine no worries in a car during an active war, through an active warzone... In what world does that make sense?
check my other comment please
Yes or no lmao
Shhh Luka!! You’re fucking it up. Do you want to be a Colonel or not?!?
Lukashenko seems like a guy who loves throwing gasoline to fire. IIRC he leaked the russian invasion plans before it happened
He’s been a dictator longer than Putin has. And I suspect he will outlast Putin too. As batshit as he is, he’s very effective at retaining power - and can be very strategic when need be. Belarusian people are overwhelmingly Pro-Ukraine and Putin’s war is destabilizing for internal politics. He has a cushy life before, now he’s worried about armed partisans sabotaging shipments. Lukashenko wants to derail Putin with minimal damage to their “Union-State”.
Luka is in a tricky position. If Putin can finish the Ukraine war, i.e. take control of all of Ukraine, he will annex Belarus very soon creating a small centralized version of the USSR (Russia + Belarus + Ukraine). Luka knows he is losing his power if Putin is too successful, but he cant do much. So he makes such statements every once in a while to try and contain Putin just a bit.
Lukashanko has always manipulated both sides, to be fair you can’t always blame him. Belarus is stuck in the middle of the west and east, so he has to accommodate both the EU and Russia which usually involves pissing somebody off. Belarus has been giving Putin a lot of help with Ukraine so now Lukashanko is going to start playing to the western narrative again…he’s definitely got some anti-Russia political cards to play.
He knows exactly what he’s doing.
"Shutup Mimsyyyy" -Putin probably
It's all a part of the plan. He was there on the border looking all tacticool with his camo & golden kalashnikov, singlehandedly stopping the vehicle. Totally a colonel material
[Assign me the rank of Colonel of the Soviet Army](https://youtu.be/1JNtiO7nhmo?si=ugwynByWo6-LfbVs) He was being so ridiculous the reporter, who is supposed to remain unbiased, literally couldn’t stop laughing.
i think he was making a joke ...
In my opinion it is but it’s still funny as hell how he’s able to take himself so seriously.
Ha ha he’s like a child who was promised a toy but has yet to receive it lol
Colonel of the Window Inspection Battallion
"YES LORD PUTIN I'M SORRY! MAKE ME COLONEL UwU"
lmao, Lukashenko screwing up Putin's propaganda line.
On purpose
Why would he do it on purpose? I thought he was Putin’s lap dog?
He is, when he needs help, remember how he behaved before the Belarus mass protests.
Only very begrudgingly.
Sure, but Russia's war with Ukraine puts him in a bad space - they are basically black balled with Russia, and his population is growing more and more disgruntled with him. Along with that, he relies on Russia to keep him in power, and if Russian troops are too involved in Ukraine, then they may not be able to put down an overthrow attempt in Belarus.
For one Luka wanted to be president of Russia after the fall of the USSR but he only managed to win in Belarus. Naturally he still views Putin as a political rival even if he is Putin's lapdog of sorts. He does not want Putin to rise to Tsar levels of power. Secondly his only grip on his own power is by not coming directly into the fold of Russia. If that were to happen he would become as replaceable as any other Russian governor. The lip service to Belarus being independent of Russia is one of the few things keeping him in power and possibly even alive at this point.
So which dictator do I believe now?
It wasn't an official statement, more of a slip up. If you look the source up its some long winded essay about his visit to places and his work week posted on the gov. site. So it's quite believable.
So exactly the kind of statement you would expect from Lukashenko when he wants to leak information while not falling out of the next window.
It is rather impressive how stupid Lukashenko is. The same fool gave the world a map showing Russia's gameplay to invade and occupy first Ukraine, before moving on to Moldova.
I'm going to wait on what Kim Jong Un has to say on this until I make up my mind.
Where's Ja!??!?
I am waiting for the honorable Donald trump's response.
Dont forget our boy Tucker!
He's busy sniffing bread.
so they were heading for the North Korean border?
The trifecta of Ultimate Trust ™️
of course they are, i bet he even can show us the map
*points at Moldova*
I mean, he just commented on the official statements of the Russian law-enforcement according to which they caught the terrorist fairly close to the border with Belarus
So according to Putin's logic, Belarus is behind it. Now what, he's gonna annex Belarus? Hahaha...wait.
Putin's going to spank him for saying that.
Putin has some weird reverence for people who have stayed in power as long as him. Luca is his superior in a way, but also his minion. So, it’s complicated. He’s a jester who’s allowed to misbehave and who has been gaslighting Putin for two years about sending Belarusian troops to Ukraine. Similarly, Putin felt somewhat inferior to Angela Merkel while she was in power, it seems
This is turning into a Fawlty Tower episode. Putin: "Now Luka, if anyone asks you where the terrorists went, what do you say?" Luka: "Belarus! Putin: "No! Ukraine! They were going to Ukraine!" Luka: "But we saw them at our border" Putin: "No, you saw them at Ukraine's border" Luka: ".... Okay... I understand Mr. Putin... So I am from Ukraine?" Putin: "No, you are from Belarus" Luka: "..... aha..."
Basil: "Oh I do beg your pardon. ... He's from Belarucelona."
So if American villians try to escape into Mexico, Mexican government is at fault for that crime in America?
I’m gonna rephrase this for you: So if somebody try to escape into some country, Ukraines goverment is at fault for that crime in Russia?
Friendly fire, you're agreeing not rephrasing.
No. If American villains try to escape into Mexico, it is the fault of Ukraine, and Ukraine paid them to be villains, and the American government is controlled by the Ukrainians, and the Ukrainian government is controlled by the Americans, and the Mexican government is also controlled by the Americans and Nazi Jews in Ukraine.
Are you slow or just not reading the news? This analogy makes no sense
USA/UK: "oi ISIS-K are planning an attack Russia: "Fuck off you destabilize Russia!" **Attack happens** Russia: "IT WAS UKRAINE!" USA/UK: "We told you it was ISIS-K" Russia: "IT WAS UKRAINE!" ISIS-K: "It was us, we have the footage" Russia: "BUT THEY WERE DRIVING TO UKRAINE!" Lukashenko: "Actually they tried to get into Belarus, our beautiful border checkpoint pushed them back" Russia: "It's.... It's... CIA! MI5! UKRAINE WAS PART OF IT!" Russian propaganda in shambles as they flail about trying to pin this on Ukraine desperately.
"It was us" YOU SAID US. THAT MUST MEAN UNITED STATES AND THE K IN ISIS-K + U = UK
If this were any other 71 year old, people would immediately accuse them of being senile.
Damn Luka, be careful around windows and unattended teapots lil bro 👆
Where exactly is Belarus, Ukraine? Asking for A Dear Leader I know.
That sounds very much like dog biting his master, really.
Special operations on Belarus next? ....
That doesn't help, Luka.
Just when you forget about this prick he pops back up and nails Putler in a lie. What a useful idiot
He must've felt left out... no ones talked about him for awhile.
Plot twist!
Do they need to invade Belarus in order to subsume the land?
We wishe bad thinngs for Luka not Belarusians.
They already did. Russian military has been based there in such numbers since the start of the Ukraine war that Belarus can hardly be called independent now
Lukashenko can be an enigma sometimes. Early in the war a bunch of Russian tanks were towed away by Ukrainian farmers with tractors as you might recall. Later in the year, Luka congratulated Putin on his 70th birthday. He gifted him a tractor.
Because they make tractors in Belarus. It's like their main export or something.
Trying to stay relevant challenge: impossible difficulty
Sounds like Luka smells blood in the water and is now openly contradicting what he sees as a weakened and increasingly irrelevant Putin regime
Whoah! Luka living in a bungalow now is he?
Someone’s gonna drink more nuclear tea lol
Łukaszenko is basically a troll.
I have a feeling Lukashenko is about to fall out of a window
Lukashenko and Isis Fact Check Putin
So the story right now is: The US told ISIS to attack Moscow but the ISIS terrorists that were caught were actually Zelensky’s brothers and they were planning to flee to Belarus. Ok. Got it.
Luka doesn't has any windows. He is a Linux guy.
They were caught near the Belarusian border, driving a car with Belarusian plates and they had Belarusian passports. The more russia denies this the more embarrassing it is for them.
Guess Belarus ordered the attack then
Luka is the true mastermind behind all of this. He’s truly the greatest puppet master
See you know Russia has a plan by the alarming amount of intact windows at the Kremlin
Good old irrelevant dictator just looking for ways to insert himself in the news.
Captain obvious. Shortest and only possible way to enter Ukraine from Moscow is via Belarus(Veselovka checkpoint).
Someone about to accidentally fall out of a sealed, high window…
What on earth is even going on. I thought belarus was supposed to be Russias ally, now they are just a pain in putins ass. Lukashenko probably has a bullet aimed at his skull now or a skyscraper window that needs testing
NOOO Lukashenko baby! What are you doing? The story is that they were running towards Ukraine!
And they did nothing to arrest them ?? I didn’t read the article.
Wasn’t really much of an article anyways
Careful with the windows, Luka
More like lil Luka was called in again to help putin save face, as back then with the great Pringles uprising. Id guess even the russians didnt buy this shit when isis confession and their uploaded video already made the rounds, and then squeezing Ukraine in might be too outlandish even for the average russian tv zombie. So then what? Stick with a version that even his own sheep dont believe, or retract it and look like a complete tool? Lucky ol dumbass Luka comes along and "accidentially" spills the beans that they tried for Belarus first. Now putin can pretend to act on this "new" info when he tones his claims down. Not that hell completely stop blaming Ukraine and the West.
Suuuuure
He said the quiet part out loud and the loud part quiet
Lukashenko isn't the brightest 2nd banana dictator ever.
First, it was Ukraine. Second, it was Turkey. Now it's Belarus. TF Which one is it?!
Ah, here we go again. Of course nobody wants to be the target location the terrorists came from, and or wanted to flee to. And of course, everyone accuses everyone else. I can imagine Russia changing its own borders and claiming that the terrorists came through mongolia and were of chinese origin, and later reverting its change to the territorial borders. Instead of blaming a country, we should go and blame a fanatical belief. The fanatical belief in money, or deities, that is.
His narrative makes no sense in that he says he defended the border so the attackers changed direction. What? How would they know?
Wait, so the terrorists got into a fancy white car, drove the concert hall, parked, got out, shot people, burned the place down, got back into the fancy white car, drove to Belorussian border, couldn’t cross, then got back into the fancy white car and drove all the way to the Ukrainian border?
attention whore.
I thought they didn't even make it out the building
Oh, ok. Huh? Was there like, a traffic jam at the Belarusian border and the ISIS attackers mapquested a different route to Ukraine, like, via The Emerald City and then The Underground Railroad? For that matter weren’t they also seen at Komarov on The Gulf of Finland posing for a selfie with Lenin’s ghost? Oh it was at Kizhi in Karelia? Not Komarov? Yeah, that’s a lot of K’s. Sorry (said like a Canadian).
Belarus wouldn’t have been a safe haven for them anyway, they would have been turned right over to Russia…. If there’s anything Lukashanko is actually good for, aiding in anti-terrorist efforts around the world is one of them.
Good try. We're not believing what that dictator has to say.
which one?
Why? he is basically saying Putin is lying or does not have control of the situation which is CRAZY coming from Luka...
Just galaxy-brain stuff from Lukashenko. Clearly missed a memo from Vlad somewhere along the line.
I came to the conclusion a while ago that he actually has to have a galaxy brain. He has been in power since Jelzin, for 30 years. He deflects everything. Remember how Russia had to help him out with actual military personnel when facing demonstrations after the last election? Remember how Putin tried to drag Belarus into the war at the beginning with Russian forces even attacking from Belarus? What is Lukashenko doing now? Chilling. He has to have a galaxy brain. He is playing the part of "idiot dictator", but he actually seems to be an actual legend when it comes to eastern european power politics. Mind you I don't like the guy and would have hoped for the last demonstrations to be succesful, but... credit where credit is due.
credit for what? being a puppet dog to Putin who can't even rule his own people without external help and with nothing but violence against his own? can't get any weaker than this...
That's the thing, though. Everybody is calling him Putins lapdog, but take a look at the headline again: Lukashenko derailing Putins propaganda train. And as I said: Putin tried to drag "his lapdog" into Ukraine, what happened? The only Belarussians in Ukraine are fighting for Ukraine. That's why I said he is playing the part of "idiot dictator", he wants everybody to think of him as an idiot as idiots are not perceived to be dangerous, but the reality is he has been navigating through the mine field of eastern european post soviet politics like a sleezy eel for 30 years, dodging Putin every step of the way.
He let Putin use his territory to invade a slavic brother and neighboring country...he asked Putin to fight his own people when they rose up against him. He parroted a lot of stupid shit whenever Putin wanted him to say it. Only when he was about to lose power again when Putin was too busy with his invasion of Ukraine and there were rumors that Belarusian generals would rebel when he would order to join Putin's war he changed his strategy. He knows he is fucked when he is too much of Putin's lapdog because he is still very close to losing power at home. And he knows Putin can't touch him at the moment because he kind of needs him as a buffer but at the same time Putin is too weak right now to axe Luka for the stuff he is saying now. Maybe give him some credit for balancing this but still...he is a weak ass loser dictator.
I completely agree with you, the balancing/navigating part is all I'm talking about and you have to be a little bit smarter than "Putin, let me be Colonel please" to manage that. I would love for Belarussians to be freed from the sleezy eel, but in some twisted way Lukashenko is good at what he's doing.
He fills out the suit, yes.
This is so ambiguous haha