Panic and flight: why Belarus needs to control its border with Russia?
Lukashenka decides to fend off his own ally / Collage by Ulad Rubanau, Euroradio
The Belarusian authorities are in a panic because they are afraid of saboteurs. That is why, according to the experts interviewed, the Belarusian-Russian border is now under control. Euroradio asked BYSOL, BYPOL and Valery Sakhashchyk what is going on and whether it has become more difficult for Belarusians to escape from Lukashenka's regime in case of need.
On May 5, it was announced that Belarus had introduced temporary border controls at six major entry points from Russia. Then, in the Mahiliou region, minor bypass roads into Russia were ditched or littered with trees.
And on May 10, when many Russians were returning home after the May holidays, there were queues at the exit from Belarus at the "Lobok" checkpoint in the Vitsebsk region. According to Russian tourists, some of them have been visiting Belarus at this time for years, but this was the first time they had seen the queues.
"Lukashenka understands that the Russian border is porous."
According to the head of BYPOL Aliaksandr Azarau, the authorities are blocking the border because they suspect that Ukrainian saboteurs enter Russia through the territory of Belarus. And then they return to Belarus.
"There have been a lot of attacks in Russia lately. You see, oil depots are burning there, some drones are flying over the Kremlin, so they decided to close the border."
Our interlocutor does not remember that Belarus did something similar before.
"The Russians blocked the border after the beginning of the war in 2014. Also, they did it to prevent Ukrainian saboteurs from sneaking into Russian territory from the Belarusian side."
Andrei Stryzhak, co-founder of the BYSOL Foundation, also believes that the changes on the border are related to recent events in Russia.
"Lukashenka understands that the Russian border is porous. The second point, of course, is that people continue to exploit the border. It's all kinds of smuggling. The Belarusians find these traces. Especially when it's "Anti-Smuggling Month". They have something like that.
Representative for Defense and National Security of the United Transitional Cabinet Valery Sakhashchyk recalls that the control of the border officially appeared ostensibly to fulfill an agreement on mutual recognition of visas with Russia. It was signed back in 2020.
"This explanation is obviously far-fetched. The scope and nature of the controls are more indicative of an attempt to minimize the risks for the regime in an increasingly complicated foreign policy situation, and especially against the backdrop of Lukashenka's rapidly deteriorating health.
