Belarus Strongman Blames Unrest on U.S. as Russians Take Over TV
- Lukashenko says Western powers may annex Grodno region
- Russian specialists replace striking staff of state-owned TV
Alexander Lukashenko
Photographer: Evgeny Maloletka/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
With the opposition planning a mass protest this weekend, Belarus’s embattled President Alexander Lukashenko spent Friday meeting law enforcement agents and accusing the West of planning to invade his country.
Lukashenko said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin that hostile powers have set up a center in Warsaw and seek to “cut off” Belarus’s Grodno region which borders on Lithuania and Poland, both members of the European Union and NATO. The army will hold large-scale military drills in the region Saturday, Lukashenko said.