aggiehawg said:
sclaff said:
Speaking of "clever" - this time FSB - here is an interesting read about Russian scheming regarding Belarus. Bottomline is Russia will goad Belarus to invade so they can take outright control of Belarus.
https://www.igorsushko.com/2022/07/kremlin-plan-to-annihilate-belarusian.html
My translation of the July 7th #FSBletters from the #WindofChange inside the FSB to Vladimir Osechkin.
Subject: Kremlin plan to annihilate Belarusian army in Ukraine and seize #Belarus itself as a result, turn #Lukashenko into hostage-puppet.
I thought he already was puppet?
And so much for the "buffer zone" Putin said he required between Russia and NATO countries.
To beat the heck of a symbiosis analogy...the distinction, in my mind, is that Lukashenko has largely been a willing "puppet" over the years. There's been a mutualism between him and Russian leaders. Maybe not for the Belarussian people, but for Lukashenko and his values, yes.
This war in Ukraine was something of a shift towards commensalism--its not clear what Lukashenko is possibly gaining from this, but I'm not sure he feels at this point*** like he's much harmed by allowing Russia to benefit from use of Belarussian territory.
This talk about Russia bending Belarus into joining the war would be a shift into parasitism.
***I'm not sure how long Belarus can withstand the sanctions regime, not my expertise, but I don't think Lukashenko is seeing signs yet that his grip on power is seriously threatened as of yet