MINSK, 4 October (BelTA) - Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko spoke about the self-exiled opposition members who are not giving up hopes to destabilize the situation in Belarus at a meeting to discuss the country's military security in Minsk on 4 October, BelTA has learned.
"The Belarusian self-exiled opposition did not fail to take advantage of the aggravation of the situation. Probably, hysterical from the fear to be forgotten they churn out more and more perverse ideas. They used to call for sanctions against Belarus. Now they call on servicemen to non-fulfill and sabotage commanders' orders, dodge conscription," the president said. “The goal is the same, as it was in 2020: to destroy the country, overthrow the existing system and deal with the country's leadership. They have opted for violence to achieve their goals. Other options are no longer on the agenda."
"They continue to hatch plans to create their own paramilitary units, the so-called Kalinovsky Regiment. No matter how preposterous this regiment may be, it includes radically minded fighters who are bent on destabilizing the situation in our country through, first of all, sabotage and subversive activities," the head of state said.
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, there are radicals in Belarus who are staying under the radar now. "In 2020-2021, law enforcement agencies identified the main instigators of the riots, but they still have followers who are lying low waiting for a go-time," he said.
The president drew attention to the way "the sleeper cells" behaved in Russia. The trigger for the destructive forces was the important decision by the Russian president to conduct a partial mobilization. "Immediately we saw rallies with ‘handkerchiefs and flowers', anti-state slogans and calls to dodge the mobilization. Those who lined up their pockets under the current administration and built their palaces and castles publicly tore up the passports of the Russian Federation and fled abroad. The so-called cultural elite in Russia behaved similarly like the one in Belarus in 2020. It has set on a course to destabilize the situation inside Russia. What we are seeing in Russia now is identical to what happened in Belarus in 2020," the Belarusian leader said.
"Our self-exiled opposition hopes that armed provocations of militants from among the Nazi formations can serve as a similar impetus to destabilize the situation in Belarus," Aleksandr Lukashenko said.
He urged to prepare for any developments.
