Opposition leader calls for focus on Belarus amid mercenaries’ uprising in Russia

June 24, BPN. Factional struggle in Russia exposes weaknesses of dictatorships, Belarusian opposition leader Śviatłana Cichanoŭskaja has said in her comment on the ongoing military insurrection in Russia.

“There is no loyalty among criminals who maintain power through fear; their regime of terror could collapse at any moment,” she tweeted.

Supporting Ukraine in defeating Russia and liberating Belarus from tyranny and preserving its independence are the priorities now, she stressed.

Valer Sachaščyk, the cabinet’s security chief, urged the Belarusian military to support the opposition. “Let’s unite the nation and save our homeland now, the rest we’ll do later,” he said.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, the founder of the Wagner private military company that participated in Russia’s war on Ukraine, announced a military insurrection on June 23. Later that night, Wagner units left the occupied parts of Ukraine and entered Russia in a “march of justice.” 

Wagner units have already passed through Russia’s Rostov-on-Don and Voronezh and may have reached the Lipetsk region reportedly moving in the direction of Moscow. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued an address describing the actions of the “rebels” as treason and threatened them with “imminent punishment.” Russian authorities filed criminal charges of armed mutiny against Prigozhin.