Belarusian volunteers has been fighting for Ukraine for years. They first emerged in 2014, when Russia annexed Crimea and instigated the war in the Donbas region.
A typical comment from a Belarus citizen is:
“We didn’t finish our revolution, we didn’t remove (Belarusian leader Alexander) Lukashenko, we didn’t prevent Russian troops from crossing our border to attack Ukraine.”
During the 2014 Ukrainian crisis, the Belarus government acted as a mediator and peacemaker, taking a neutral stance on Russia’s annexation of Crimea.
However, the 2020 political crisis in Belarus increased Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s dependence on the Kremlin, and he became Russia’s crucial ally in the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
With Aliaksandr Lukashenka depending on the Kremlin for internal support, he must follow Putin’s requirements, or face a possible revolution in his own country.
Let’s face it, that is how the Russian government originally took power, in their own famous revolution.
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