Belarus has accused 33 Russian mercenaries detained near Minsk of preparing a terrorist attack to destabilise the country ahead of its presidential elections in a sharp escalation of tensions with Moscow.
Belarus has claimed that the men are mercenaries employed by the Russian private military company Wagner, which has been tied to an ally of Vladimir Putin and has fought in armed conflict in Ukraine, Syria and countries in Africa. Several of the men, who were arrested at a sanatorium outside Minsk on Wednesday, fought against the government in east Ukraine, Russian media have reported.
The head of Belarus’ security council said they were looking for another 200 Russian mercenaries whom they have accused of being sent to prepare “terrorist attacks”. “We are searching for them,” said Andrei Ravkov, head of the country’s security council. “But it’s like a needle in a haystack.”
Alexander Lukashenko, the country’s president for the past 25 years, has publicly accused Russia and the west of seeking to interfere in the country’s elections. He claimed last week that Russian mercenaries could be sent to the country to organise a “Maidan”, a reference to the 2014 Ukrainian revolution that overthrew the then president, Viktor Yanukovych.
The government did not give any more details on what kind of attacks were being planned, and critics have suggested the alleged mercenaries were either arrested en route from Russia to Africa or sent to Lukashenko by the Russian government as a pretext to trigger a state of emergency.
The arrests come during the most competitive presidential election in Belarus in decades, as the opposition has coalesced around Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, a reluctant presidential candidate who has attracted crowds of thousands while touring the country this week. Another candidate, Viktor Babariko, has been arrested on charges of money laundering and barred from the election. Lukashenko has also accused him of being backed by Russia. A third presidential candidate, Valery Tsepkalo, fled to Moscow with his children after he claimed to have learned that an order had been put out for his arrest.
Belarus summoned the Russian ambassador on Thursday “to provide substantive explanations regarding the goals and other aspects of the arrival and presence in our country of said organised group, numerous members of which have a proven record of involvement in armed conflicts”, the Belarusian foreign ministry said.
Belarus also summoned the ambassador of Ukraine, which has said it will demand the extradition of the men for fighting alongside pro-Russian forces in east Ukraine. The extradition would mark a considerable escalation with Russia.
The Belarusian elections commission summoned all the presidential candidates to an emergency meeting on Thursday morning, sparking fears that the arrest of the mercenaries could serve as a pretext for delaying the 9 August vote.
However, officials only said there would be heightened security precautions at rallies, a measure that would target Tikhanovskaya’s candidacy in particular. On Thursday night, she addressed 34,000 supporters at what was reportedly the largest opposition rally in the country for a decade.
She denied that the opposition was collaborating with the Russians to stage an uprising. “People, what revolution? We want honest elections,” Tikhanovskaya said.
Russian mercenaries have been using Minsk as a stopover point on their way to Africa since Russia halted most commercial flights out of the country because of coronavirus, Russian media have reported.
Lukashenko is facing one of the toughest challenges to his rule during his 25 years in power. The crisis has been triggered by many factors, including a slowing economy and Lukashenko’s own dismissive remarks about the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this week he said he had contracted an “asymptomatic” form of the disease. “Today you are meeting a man who managed to survive the coronavirus on his feet,” he said during a meeting with the military.
