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Russia ‘intends to ‘absorb’ Belarus by 2030 according to a leaked document setting out a plan to infiltrate the country’
- Secret dossier says there are three different approaches to annexing Belarus
- But Putin’s desire to absorb Belarus into Russia should not come as a surprise.
Russia reportedly plans to annex Belarus and absorb it into the Russian Federation by 2030, according to leaked presidential documents.
The secret dossier, reportedly dated summer 2021, was titled “Strategic Objectives of the Russian Federation in Belarus” and set out three possible approaches, short, medium and long term, to annex Belarus and restore a part of “historical Russia”. “. ‘.
The medium-term plan would see Belarus formally become part of Russia from 2025, while the long-term plan gives a seven-year timeline to 2023.
The plans were reportedly drawn up by Russia’s Presidential Directorate for Cross-Border Cooperation, a government division established by Putin in 2018, and were obtained by Yahoo! German News and Exit Deutsche Zeitung.
If the documents are verified as authentic, it would confirm that Vladimir Putin has ordered Russia’s intelligence services and military to prepare to annex another country.
But the despot’s desire to seize control of Belarus and Ukraine would hardly come as a surprise.
Putin (left) and Lukashenko (right) have been allies for a long time.
Since coming to power in 2000, Putin has made countless references to the concept of ‘Russian World’ and ‘Historical Russia’ – the idea that Russia’s sphere of influence extends far beyond its current borders to encompass various other territories. Russian speaking.
Putin has described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the “greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century”, and intends to restore the great empire of yore, unifying a Russian-speaking tripartite of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, as well as other territories – in a superstate.
He said it openly in a almost 7,000 word essay published on the official website of the Kremlin in 2021, less than a year before he ordered his troops onto Ukrainian soil.
The annexation of Crimea in 2014 and four regions in eastern and southern Ukraine last year, not to mention the installation of pro-Russian separatist groups in regions of northern Georgia in 2008, are steps towards restoring Putin’s ‘Russian World’.
Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko shake hands during a meeting at the Novo-Ogaryovo state residence outside Moscow, Russia, February 17, 2023.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has long been an ally of his Russian counterpart.
In many ways, he has inspired his autocratic reign on Putin’s, cracking down on political opponents, dissident journalists and anyone who questions his power.
The Kremlin has staunchly backed Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron fist for nearly three decades, helping him weather months of mass protests sparked by his re-election in an August 2020 vote that the opposition and the West denounced as rigged.
Belarus has benefited for years from Russian economic support and its energy sector is heavily dependent on cheap Russian oil and gas imports.
And militarily, the two countries are now cooperating more closely than ever.
They are set to embark on a wide range of military exercises this year and Lukashenko has said the former Soviet nation will form a new territorial defense force amid fighting in neighboring Ukraine.
Moscow has kept around 10,000 troops in Belarus and used the country as a launching pad for its invasion, sending tank battalions across the Belarusian border to attack kyiv a year ago.
But in recent years, Lukashenko’s relationship with Putin has grown increasingly strained as he has been forced to slowly cut ties with the West and renounce Belarus’ autonomy.