{"id":11332,"date":"2022-01-17T15:54:08","date_gmt":"2022-01-17T12:54:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/kazakhstan-intervention-gives-lukasenka-a-boost-of-confidence\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"kazakhstan-intervention-gives-lukasenka-a-boost-of-confidence","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/","title":{"rendered":"Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <span>By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n <b>Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka stands to benefit from this month\u2019s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping mission in Kazakhstan. He persuaded CSTO leaders to approve the deployment and credited himself and Vladimir Putin with devising a detailed plan of the operation.<\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cThe whole operation down to every detail was developed by the two presidents of Russia and Belarus within an hour,\u201d he told Belarusian troops on January 15, one day after their return from Kazakhstan.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Aliesin: Luka\u0161enka is Moscow\u2019s mouthpiece<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Belarusian state media portrayed Luka\u0161enka as a winner and the leading solver of former Soviet republics\u2019 problems. He has cast himself as a player of Putin\u2019s caliber. The Belarusian ruler often makes himself look big by playing up his interactions and contacts with political heavyweights.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Although Luka\u0161enka may be exaggerating his role in the operation (the operation was planned in detail by professional military officers), he turned out to be a convenient facilitator and \u201cretransmitter\u201d for the Kremlin, said Aliaksandr Aliesin, a Belarusian defense analyst. If Putin communicated with CSTO leaders alone, they could take it as an attempt by Moscow to impose its will. Luka\u0161enka\u2019s facilitation helped put interlocutors at ease as if they were engaged in an equal discussion, Aliesin said.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Food for propaganda<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t The Kazakhstan operation, which was accomplished without any casualties among Belarusian troops, must have inspired and reinvigorated Luka\u0161enka.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t It gave him another opportunity to prove to Moscow that he is indispensable. If he opposed the mission, Putin would find it difficult to persuade other countries to join in. Moreover, Luka\u0161enka backing has attracted him much publicity. He demonstrated to the internal and external audiences that Putin trusts him, and that he can always rely on Moscow\u2019s support.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Meanwhile, Belarusian state propaganda seized the opportunity to lay the blame at the West\u2019s door for the Kazakhstan crisis and cast Luka\u0161enka as a successful fighter against color revolutions in the Commonwealth of Independent States.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Belarusian leader has always advocated the use of CSTO troops for managing internal crises in member states. State media have spun the story to his advantage by claiming that other leaders, including Putin, have finally listened to his wise advice.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Luka\u0161enka was very excited during the crisis because it gave him a chance to break through international isolation. He communicated with CSTO partners quite assertively. On December 10, he had a conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Fundamental challenges for pro-democracy movement<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Clearly, Luka\u0161enka PR stunts will not change the way he is perceived by his opponents. However, Belarusian officials have received the message that their leader is still strong and resolute and that the Kremlin still needs him. It will rally his supporters round the flag.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The use of CSTO forces to suppress protests in Kazakhstan might dishearten opposition supporters who see that the alliance of authoritarian regimes is ready to act quickly and decisively to help each other. In addition, authorities and state media have cited Kazakhstan\u2019s deadly violence to justify the government crackdown on dissent in Belarus.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Some opposition supporters may even conclude that they will not be able to win as long as Moscow acts as the policeman to suppress any aspirations for freedom among its neighbors.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t It is clear now that Moscow may intervene in a political crisis in Belarus under the guise of CSTO or Union State assistance. It was close to deploying forces to Belarus in August 2020 and it will not hesitate to send troops to help Luka\u0161enka deal with a new uprising. Opposition leaders would have to be careful when they choose between peaceful and violent methods of power struggle.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The mutual assistance of authoritarian regimes is a fundamental challenge for political opponents and for the West, which is trying to exert its influence on the Belarusian regime and support the democratic aspirations of Belarusians.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka stands to benefit from this month\u2019s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping mission in Kazakhstan. He persuaded CSTO leaders to approve the deployment and credited himself and Vladimir Putin with devising a detailed plan of the operation. \u201cThe whole operation down to every detail was developed by the two [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[22],"class_list":["post-11332","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka stands to benefit from this month\u2019s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping mission\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence | Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka stands to benefit from this month\u2019s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping mission\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pozirk\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@Pozirk_online\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"NewsArticle\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/\"},\"headline\":\"Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-17T12:54:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/\"},\"wordCount\":660,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/\",\"name\":\"Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence | Pozirk\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-01-17T12:54:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka stands to benefit from this month\u2019s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping mission\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Pozirk\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png\",\"width\":512,\"height\":512,\"caption\":\"Pozirk\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/\",\"https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence | Pozirk","description":"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka stands to benefit from this month\u2019s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping mission","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence | Pozirk","og_description":"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka stands to benefit from this month\u2019s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping mission","og_url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/","og_site_name":"Pozirk","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","article_modified_time":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_site":"@Pozirk_online","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/"},"headline":"Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence","datePublished":"2022-01-17T12:54:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/"},"wordCount":660,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/","name":"Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence | Pozirk","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2022-01-17T12:54:08+00:00","dateModified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13+00:00","description":"By Aliaksandr Klasko\u016dski, BPN Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka stands to benefit from this month\u2019s Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) peacekeeping mission","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11332\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kazakhstan intervention gives Luka\u0161enka a boost of confidence"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","name":"Pozirk","description":"","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#organization","name":"Pozirk","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/cropped-Logo_color_512.png","width":512,"height":512,"caption":"Pozirk"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pozirkonline\/","https:\/\/x.com\/Pozirk_online"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/longreads\/11332","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/longreads"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/longreads"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/75"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11332"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"rubric","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rubric?post=11332"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}