Europe’s last dictator Alexander Lukashenko demands Russia give him NUKES in as war fears rage & migrant crisis grows
BELARUS’ president has demanded Russia hand over NUKES to deploy in the south and west of the country as war fears surge.
President Alexander Lukashenko – Europe’s last dictator – made the remarks as the migrant crisis at the country’s border with Poland rages on, with tensions between Warsaw and Minsk reaching boiling point.
Russia is a close ally of Belarus, which the European Union has accused of engineering a crisis on its border by flying in thousands of migrants and pushing them to try to cross illegally into Poland.
Fresh sanctions are expected which will ramp up the tensions.
The Ministry of Defence revealed a small unit of Royal Engineers has been sent to help Poland shore up its border with Belarus.
General Nick Carter, Chief of the Defence Staff, told Times Radio there was a greater risk of tensions in a “multipolar world”, where governments have different objectives and agendas.
Lukashenko told Russian defence magazine National Defence that he needs nuclear-capable Iskander mobile ballistic missile systems, which has a range of up to 500 kilometres and can carry either conventional or nuclear warheads.
“I need several divisions in the west and the south, let them stand (there),” he said.
EU members Poland and Lithuania lie to the west of Belarus. Its south borders Ukraine.
Lukashenko gave no indication of whether he had held any talks with Moscow about receiving the missile system.
Russia’s Defence Ministry did not immediately reply to a request to comment.
Belarus and Russia are formally part of a “union state” and have been in talks for years to move closer together.
It comes as the dispute between Poland and Belarus escalates.
Last night, Belarusian troops ripped up the border fence and stopped Polish soldiers from rebuilding it as they were blinded by lasers and strobe lighting.
Belarusian forces also armed migrants with tear gas to use against Polish forces once across the border under orders from president Lukashenko.
International tension is growing over the crisis, with neighbours of Belarus warning the situation could escalate into a military conflict.
Belarus said on Saturday the number of migrants arriving at a makeshift camp on the border was growing daily, and that a group of up to 100 had crossed into Polish territory.
It emerged yesterday that Belarus plied migrants with vodka to make them more aggressive. Polish border officials said they were also given tear gas.
They released video showing Belarus forces shining lasers and strobe lights into their eyes to disorientate them.
Women and children were pushed to the front near Czeremcha so Polish guards would be reluctant to act aggressively.
A Polish border spokesperson said: “It is a very tense situation and it is getting worse.”
Polish Interior Minister Mariusz Kaminski estimated that about 1,500 people were camped at the border.
But the European Union has accused Belarus of instigating the crisis in a bid to put pressure on the bloc over sanctions.
Minsk denies this, and on Saturday Russian President Vladimir Putin, a key ally of Lukashenko, said Western countries were ultimately responsible for the crisis.
Some migrants have said Belarusian forces helped them cross the border, however.
On Saturday, the Polish army published footage that it said showed a group of about 50 migrants being escorted across the border by Belarusian forces.
The Polish Border Guard said Belarusian soldiers had pulled down a section of the temporary border fence.
In Lithuania, border guard officials released footage showing 70 migrants they said had been brought to the country’s border by Belarusian officials in trucks.
Poland, Austria, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia have asked international aid agencies to organise humanitarian and medical assistance in Belarus to “avoid tragedies and prevent (a) humanitarian crisis” at the Polish border.
WAR FEARS
It comes as the body of a young Syrian man has been found in Poland near the border with Belarus, Polish police said on Saturday.
Thousands of migrants from the Middle East are sheltering in freezing conditions on the border between Belarus and EU states Poland and Lithuania, which are refusing to let them cross.
At least eight of them have already died and fears are growing for the safety of others as harsh winter conditions set in.
“A forest worker informed the police about finding the body of a young man,” Podlaska police spokesman Tomasz Krupa told Reuters, adding that the body and the man’s passport had been found on Friday.
“It is a young man of Syrian nationality around 20-years old,” Krupa said.
“It was not possible to determine the cause of death at the scene,” he added.
But Lukashenko appeared to brush off the threat of new international sanctions over the migrant crisis as he was pictured playing ice hockey on Saturday.
The 67-year-old, in power for 27 years, appeared in red kit posing for cameras on the rink in images published on his website which said his team beat a Minsk region side 5-2.
In footage that may have been timed to project an air of indifference to his standoff with the West, Lukashenko could be seen taking a shot at goal and bumping fists with fellow team mates, at one point drawing cheers from the crowd.
It comes as it’s reported Russia may rely on a blitzkrieg-style assault to storm its way across Ukraine before the West could react should Vladimir Putin decide to invade.
Fears of war have loomed once again in Eastern European as US officials warned their allies of a very real threat looming from Russia.
Britain’s top general Nick Carter warned the chance of an “accidental” war with Russia is now the highest in decades.
And meanwhile Whitehall officials were described as being worried and twitchy about the troubling intel emerging from the East.
Russia has always insisted it means no harm to Ukraine – but the US have warned Putin to reconsider making a “serious mistake”.
With tensions raging in Ukraine, Russian bombers flying over the North Sea, and Putin accused of stoking a migrant row between Belarus and Poland – the region sits on a knife-edge.
Putin has long been accused of plotting to seize more territory from Ukraine after Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
Q&A
By Nick Pisa
WHAT is going on?
Last month Belarus granted visa- free travel to over 70 countries, which created an influx of migrants from Iraq, Syria, Yemen and sub-Saharan Africa. Thousands were helped towards the border with EU member Poland by Belarus’s security forces.
Poland sent troops to the border and put up fences. Many migrants are now trapped in freezing conditions.
WHY did Belarus do this?
It is revenge by President Alexander Lukashenko after he was hit by sanctions following the 2020 election, which saw him keep power after a crackdown on opponents. The EU said the election was unfair.
More sanctions were imposed after Belarus diverted a Ryanair flight so a political activist could be detained.
WHAT’S the worst case scenario?
Western officials fear clashes between Belarus and Poland could escalate — with superpower Russia drawn in to back its ally Belarus. The US is on edge after satellite photos showed Russian troops massing near the border with Ukraine, part of which Russia invaded in 2014.
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