In Belarus, they began to punish pro-Russian activists
Olga Bondareva, the most famous pro-Russian activist in Belarus, was arrested in the famous detention center on Akrestsin Street, where protesters were held in 2020. Another like-minded person is serving 10 days in Vitebsk. Last year, pro-government commentators began calling such activists provocateurs, and their position was not pro-Russian, but Belarusophobic.
On Tuesday, Alexander Lukashenko met with Oleg Melnichenko, Governor of the Penza Region. The President once again stressed that the future of Belarus lies only in cooperation with Russia. “Once again, it should be said that everything will depend on us. We need to focus only on our capabilities,” the head of state stressed.
And he admitted that if something was missed somewhere, it is possible to correct previous shortcomings only together: “Where to go? Once you have passed a certain period of time, now you have to endure, but focus on your own. This is our position, Oleg Vladimirovich. I am sure that Russia understands this even more than we do. Let’s cooperate together and do the same thing that is necessary for our peoples, Belarus and Russia.”
The President noted that both sides still have considerable reserves for developing cooperation. And he stressed: “These reserves need to be implemented now, due to the current situation that we are witnessing. But I must tell you, it won’t happen again. Everything is not as simple and not as complacent as it might have seemed to someone.”
The pro-Russian position is typical not only for the country’s leadership, but also for the majority of its population. However, there are activists in this field who manage to suffer for their overzealous rhetoric. And apparently, precisely because they don’t listen well to the president’s warnings about how difficult the current situation is and how important it is not to create additional hotbeds of tension.
So, probably the most prominent activist in the country, blogger and public figure Olga Bondareva, is currently serving thirteen days in the famous detention center “on Akrestsin.” In 2020, the address of this institution became a household name, as the detained protesters were taken there. And now one of their fiercest accusers was there.
A well-known opposition blogger, Andrei Spider, introduced himself as her colleague and called the activist’s husband. And he said that Bondareva had been punished for “reposting something or something.” It was he who gave the information that she was staying “on Akrestsin.”
In the court of the Moskovsky district of Minsk, information about Bondareva’s administrative arrest was confirmed to one of the opposition Internet resources.
However, the husband of the prisoner refused to discuss the version that the punishment could be related to her online attacks on Alexander Lukashenko’s daughter-in-law (wife of his middle son Dmitry) Anna Seluk. The fact is that the latter actively participated in the organization and holding of the Marathon of Unity concert program, which took place before the elections in all major cities of Belarus. Bondareva found that a number of young performers and popular bloggers who took part in it did not meet high moral standards, which she did not fail to declare on social networks.
It should be noted that representatives of the state media have repeatedly warned the activist that the heat should be lowered. So, the observer of “SAT. Belarus Today” Andrey Mukovozchik noted in his Telegram channel in February at her address: “In the behavior of the tram boor, too, if you search, you can find a “grain of truth.” But it’s better to get him out of the transport first and… and that’s it. There’s no point in dealing with a boor or a brawler.”
Bondareva didn’t get rusty back then, as they say, and she immediately responded on social media.: “Without denying the truth of my words, the talking heads turned to insults and such familiar direct lies and slanders.”
And obviously, by doing so, she demonstrated that such exhortations are unlikely to work on her. However, even now her husband believes that even the fact that she was brought to justice will not stop the activist, because “she has a core.”
But Bondareva is not the only one with problems. Opposition resources claim that Sergei Lashkov, an associate of another pro-Soviet activist Elvira Mirsalimova, was arrested for 10 days in Vitebsk. The activist was also punished for his actions on social media.
Mirsalimova herself stated that Lashkov had been denounced from abroad. She also complained that activists who sincerely support the government have to delete their accounts from social networks for fear that some old post or like might be blamed.
Last year, Mirsalimova herself also visited an IVS (temporary detention facility). However, I spent only two days there.
The regular state fighters of the information front spoke about her even more harshly than about Bondareva. So, the famous TV presenter Grigory Azarenok wrote in his social networks about Mirsalimova that she was “not a “pro-Russian activist,” but a provocateur.” The journalist stated that with her accusations against the Belarusian state, she was fulfilling the task of Western curators to create discord in Belarusian-Russian relations.
And he developed his thought in a rather threatening way: “Such “pro-Russians” always find a language with the so-called nationalists very well. Patriotic channels have repeatedly hinted to the “activist” to stop Belarusophobia.”
And he, summarizing the analysis of Mirsalimova’s case, gave a well-thought-out formula: “And always remember the truth, which has already been confirmed thousands of times. Lukashenko’s enemy is Russia’s enemy.”