schema:articleBody
| - Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Tuesday alleged his opponents were plotting deadly violence in the capital Minsk, as early voting began in a presidential election. Lukashenko, who is running for a sixth term, did not directly accuse anyone but Belarus last week arrested 33 alleged Russian mercenaries, claiming they were on a mission to destabilise the ex-Soviet country. "So far there is no open warfare, no shooting... but an attempt to organise a massacre in the centre of Minsk is already obvious," Lukashenko said in an address to the nation. Belarusian authorities say the detained men are members of the Wagner group, a shadowy military contractor reportedly controlled by an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin Moscow says that the Russians were in Belarus en route to other countries but Lukashenko described this as "lies," saying the men were sent to Belarus with the "order to wait." The men have "told all," he said. Lukashenko said that he had received information on "another unit sent to the south" earlier Tuesday. "We will catch them all," he vowed. In an increasingly emotional speech Lukashenko, a former collective farm chief, claimed opponents were using "billion-dollar resources" including "internet trolls" to "destabilise the situation in the country." He said he would accept "any decision" by voters but suggested opponents would be incompetent and "betray" the country. "Let me save the country," he said. "In a year or two we will calm down this situation and do what the Belarusian people need." bur-am/as/pma
|