MINSK, 4 February (BelTA) – In an interview with the VGTRK reporter, radio and TV host Vladimir Soloviev Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko shared details of the moment when he flew to the Palace of Independence while armed in August 2020, BelTA has learned.
On the whole, the interview discussed August 2020 events in quite a detail. Vladimir Soloviev said: “It was a critical moment for me, a fundamental one, including the change of my personal attitude to you – when you flew in with an assault rifle. I understood that you are definitely not Yanukovych [the former Ukraine president Viktor Yanukovych fled Ukraine in 2014].”
Aleksandr Lukashenko responded by saying: “There is a great difference between me and Yanukovych. He had a lot of money. You see money always weighs over you. You feel money in your pocket and you just have to save money.”
Vladimir Soloviev remarked: “What money are you talking about? I think when you went out with an assault rifle, it became clear that you are ready to die instead of fleeing, running away, or surrendering.”
The Belarus president shared details of that memorable day: “First. They [organizers of mass riots] released fake news that just like Yanukovych I had fled, that I was already in Rostov, and the children had flown away. I took an assault rifle, put on a bullet-proof vest, I even forgot to put on a helmet. I didn't know it would happen. Nobody was trembling. I knew how our guys [law enforcement personnel] act. They did everything I told them to do. But I had to demonstrate to them that I had not fled anywhere, that I was there. And my children as well. I boarded a helicopter and landed there literally several minutes later. I had an assault rifle with me.”
The head of state explained that the president's palace as well as the place where the president lives are always coveted by “any scumbags” during such periods. “They had planned to attack the residence. I proceeded from the assumption that it was possible. Since they decided to storm the Palace of Independence – a great risk,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “And they knew it was the line.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko also said that multiple attempts to smuggle weapons and ammunition from Ukraine's territory were detected in that period. He said: “Huge batches of things smuggled from Ukraine were seized. One batch was transported in a roundabout way via Russia. But the weapons and explosives were of Ukrainian origin.”
