Earlier this week, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko addressed his Security Council to explain why Belarus is launching missiles into Ukraine. In a televised address, Lukashenko stood in front of a map that, amongst other military strategies, highlighted Russia’s plans to send troops to the separatist region of Transnistria in Moldova from the Ukrainian port city of Odessa. A longtime Russian ally, Belarus has been slammed with economic sanctions by the West for facilitating Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, in particular by allowing Moscow’s troops to enter Ukraine from the Belarusian border.
During the meeting, Lukashenko claimed that Russian intelligence had warned him about an imminent Ukrainian missile attack on Belarus. In response to this information, Lukashenko said Belarus is conducting pre-emptive missile strikes on various military facilities in Ukraine, without mentioning why deadly missile strikes targeting civilians in the Ukrainian cities of Kyiv and Kharkiv continue to be launched from Belarusian territory.
Additionally, the map displayed by Lukashenko also showed Moscow’s plans to attack the cities of Dnipro, Cherkasy, Sumy, and Zhytomyr, where Russian troops have encountered intense Ukrainian resistance. In a rather troubling detail, Lukashenko’s chart also featured a map of the United States (US) and Canada on the top left, but there were no highlights present on that map.
At today's security council meeting, Lukashenko showed what looks like an actual invasion map. It shows Ukraine military facilities destroyed by missiles from Belarus, attacks directions (everything agrees except Odessa-Transnistria). Also, Ukraine is divided into 4 sectors. pic.twitter.com/ueqBIFUbyM
— Tadeusz Giczan 🇺🇦 (@TadeuszGiczan) March 1, 2022
Prior to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, 30,000 Russian troops were engaged in joint military exercises with their Belarusian counterparts on Belarusian territory. These troops later conducted an attack on Ukraine from the Belarusian border in the north. Although Belarus had hosted the first round of Ukraine-Russia peace talks, Kyiv has accused Minsk of being a part of Putin’s propaganda.
The most worrying detail on the map was an arrow highlighting Russian troops entering Moldova’s breakaway region of Transnistria, which is ruled by a Russia-backed government and already houses 1,500 to 2,000 of Moscow’s forces. Secessionist forces in Moldova also have around 10,000 para-military forces compared to Moldova’s total of 6,000 active military personnel, including staff. Chișinău has been at war with pro-Russia separatist forces for the last 30 years.
As of today #Moldova has received more than 114 000 🇺🇦refugees, out of which 44 000 already left our country.
— Nicu Popescu (@nicupopescu) March 2, 2022
We are continuing to do our best to offer assistance & support to all those displaced. pic.twitter.com/2bcyirfdmL
Earlier this week, Moldova’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Prime Minister, Nicu Popescu, dismissed speculation over Chișinău becoming Moscow’s next target, all the while admitting that there is some amount of “anxiety and fear” among the population over Russia’s continuing military assault on Ukraine. Popescu confirmed that Moldova is also dealing with more than 114,000 Ukrainian refugees.
In January, Ukrainian military intelligence warned that Russia is planning a “false flag operation” in Moldova’s separatist territories. Ukraine said that Russia will fabricate “provocations” against Russian armed forces in Moldova—in line with Moscow’s plan of action with Kyiv.
Moldova’s current pro-Europe government has been fighting hard against Russia’s influence in the country. In an interview with Reuters last year, President Maia Sandu expressed her ambitions to integrate Moldova into the European Union (EU), and also accused Russian state-owned Gazprom of demanding political concessions from Moldova over cheaper gas prices.