DISINFO: Belarus opposition to get millions of dollars to topple Lukashenko
SUMMARY
The Belarusian opposition has been offered $1 million for assassinating Aleksander Lukashenko, $10 million for attacking his residence and $50 million for other subversive activities.
RESPONSE
This is a recurring disinformation narrative from pro-Kremlin media, claiming that Western nations are instigating a revolt to overthrow Alyaksandr Lukashenka. Lukashenka’s claims about his political opponents being paid to overthrow him in a military coup and even kill him are unsubstantiated. The West is interested in a democratic Belarus, but power transfer should be peaceful and violent actions must be avoided.
Since last year’s rigged presidential election, mass protests flared up across the country in August 2020. Lukashenka has been mainly accusing Poland and Czechia of inciting the opposition into staging a coup against him, and Ukraine of sending nationalists for that purpose. Russia’s security service (FSB) detained several opposition-minded Belarusian intellectuals in Moscow in April, who were later accused of a plotting to kill Lukashenka and his sons. He said the attempt had been orchestrated by the US. Washington later denied these allegations. The Belarusian leader said the conspirators had confessed. However, these words cannot be taken seriously because Belarusian law enforcers are known to use torture to extort necessary confessions.
Lukashenka has been alleging that the West has attempted to topple him before. In September 2020, he claimed that his security service had intercepted a conversation between two Western spies named Mike and Nick, which he passed off as proof that Western powers stood behind both the Navalny case and the protests in Belarus.
Read more disinformation narratives about the West’s alleged attempts to remove Lukashenka by force.