This content was formerly published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, and it is now being reprinted with permission.
Alyaksandr Lukashenka, the autocratic king of Belarus, claimed on March 26 that the attackers who attacked a music hall last year attempted to flee into his state but were unable to because of extra security measures.
According to Lukashenka, according to state media firm BelTA, safety measures were put in place along Belarus’s borders with Russia after it became clear that the criminals had allegedly attacked the Bryansk, a place that borders both Belarus and Ukraine.
Belarus immediately established checkpoints when the attackers fled into the Bryansk area from Moscow and headed in the southwest.
” That’s why they could n’t enter Belarus. They saw that, but they turned away and went to the area of the Ukrainian- Soviet border”, said the long- word ruler of the original Russian republic, which is allied with Russia. ” ]Russian President Vladimir ] Putin and I did n’t sleep for a day”, he added. ” There was regular conversation”.
Putin has claimed that the defendants planned to travel to Ukraine and were there. The accusations were refuted by Ukraine and the United States, saying that Ukraine was not involved in the March 22 strike, which left at least 139 people dead at the Crocus City Hall entertainment venue.
The United States and other European nations have said they believe the claim to be accurate, but Russian authorities continue to insist Ukraine is involved. Islamic State- Khorasan ( IS- K ) has claimed responsibility for the assault.
Aleksandr Bortnikov, head of Russia’s Federal Security Service ( FSB), on March 26 reiterated Putin’s claim that that not only Ukraine but the West had a role in the deadly attack.
Bortnikov claimed that American spy organizations could have been involved in the attack yet though he acknowledged receiving a tip from the US earlier in March about a possible terrorist attack without providing any proof.
According to Lukashenka, Belarus ‘ ambassador to Russia Dzmitry Krutoy said earlier that Belarusian special forces “aided Russia in preventing jihadists from escaping across the boundary.”
Social scientist Artyom Shreibman , told RFE/RL , that the claims made by Lukashenka and Krutoy were “very opposed to what Russia says”. Belarus would have had “absolutely nothing to do with it,” if the intruders had wanted to flee to Ukraine.
According to Shreibman, any participation by Ukraine would have required a plan of action to devise an exit strategy.
He claimed that Putin and other Russian government officials are working to more and more to encourage the “Ukrainian road” in this criminal strike.
” The longer they talk about it, the more this contradiction will be revealed”, he said, adding that Lukashenka” now needs to pray” that no one asks Putin about what he ( Lukashenka ) is saying about being the one who turned the terrorists around.
He also said it was a “mystery” to him how the alleged intruders traveling in Bryansk would have known about the extra security gates, saying that it appeared to be Lukashenka’s manner of “playing an evil prank” and expressing his” Russian local desire for reputation” from Moscow.
