[News] Belarus’s president admits his troops have carried out ‘special operation’ in Ukraine

President Alexander Lukashenko has admitted that Belarusian troops have carried out at least one ‘special operation’ inside Ukraine.

The tyrant, who allowed Moscow’s forces to invade the former Soviet republic from Belarus on February 24, said that his forces burst into Ukraine to ‘free truckers’ allegedly captured by ‘scoundrels’.

According to Belarusian state media, Lukashenko said: ‘It got to the point that these scoundrels began to capture our people there, primarily drivers… that happened to be there at the time.

‘I warned the Ukrainians that we would be forced to carry out an operation to free these people. We carried out such a special operation and freed all our people.’

Lukashenko also repeatedly chose to use the word ‘war’ when meeting with security officials, even though Putin’s regime has criminalised the use of the word to describe the conflict.

According to Mail Online, the Belarusian authoritarian runs Europe’s most eccentric dictatorship outside of Russia, which has launched a sweeping crackdown on anti-war dissent since Kremlin forces first attacked Ukraine.

According to the country’s state-run news agency Belta, Lukashenko said: ‘It got to the point that these scoundrels began to capture our people there, primarily drivers…that happened to be there at the time.

‘I warned the Ukrainians that we would be forced to carry out an operation to free these people. We carried out such a special operation and freed all our people.’

Lukashenko also repeatedly chose to use the word ‘war’ to regard the conflict at a meeting with security officials today, despite Russia referring to a ‘special military operation’ in Ukraine and insisting that the public and media use this term, while the use of words such as ‘war’ or ‘invasion’ can incur heavy penalties.

Lukashenko complained that Minsk is not a participant in rounds of peace talks between delegations from Kyiv and Moscow, which have been held in Belarus and Istanbul.

He said: ‘We are working on the basis that this war is just over the fence from our country and it affects the situation in our country in the most serious way. Therefore there should not be any separate agreements behind Belarus’s back.

Lukashenko added: ‘There can be no negotiations without Belarus. If you dragged us into this – primarily Western countries – then Belarus’s position naturally should be heard at talks.

‘We don’t proceed from the fact that we’ve been put into the same basket together with Russia.

‘No. We proceed from the fact that this war is just over the fence of our country. And it is most seriously affecting the situation in Belarus. This is why there can be no separate agreements behind Belarus’ back.’

The country’s president also said that Belarus was deemed an ‘accomplice of the aggressor’ without any evidence to back up claims, Belta reports.

Lukashenko added Belarus does not want a war at its border and once again stressed the need for negotiations.

He said: ‘We don’t need this war, because we can end up suffering the most as a result of this conflict, the conflict between the two Slavic peoples.

‘I have been saying this from the very first day of this confrontation between Ukraine and Russia.

‘We once again offered Russia and Ukraine a safe place for negotiations.
‘Our initiative was heard, appreciated, and accepted. Belarus hosted three meetings of Russians and Ukrainians where they charted ways towards a peace deal.

‘However, professional actions of our military and diplomats went unnoticed in the West.

‘Belarus was declared an accomplice of the aggressor for no good reason. This was immediately followed by new sanctions.’

Belarus has allowed Russian troops to use the country bordering Ukraine as a rear base and has hosted three rounds of peace talks close to the border with Ukraine.

In early February Russia was reported to be massing nuclear-capable missiles along with 30,000 troops in Belarus, NATO had warned.