NEW REPORT: #Russian and #Belarusian- speaking independent media and opposition activists in Europe targeted with NSO Group's #Pegasus mercenary #spyware.
Collaborative investigation between @citizenlab & @AccessNow:
Fascinating interview with #Belarusian opposition leader, Andrei Sannikov, talking about founding of independent Belarus, negotiating to remove nuclear weapons from Belarus after the fall of the Soviet Union, being jailed and his struggles for democracy.
The International Olympic Committee (#IOC) head, Thomas #Bach, has defended a decision to allow #Russian and #Belarusian athletes to compete at the 2024 #Paris Olympics as neutrals.
"Individual athletes cannot be punished for the acts of their governments,"
"one war among 28 wars and conflicts going on this world and all the other athletes are competing peacefully with each other".
Belarusian state media aired images of authorities in the Belarusian city of #Navapolatsk showing a group of children taken from #Russian-occupied parts of #Ukraine to foreign diplomats.
#Belarusian authorities claimed the two-day visit included 18 foreign diplomats from states including, but allegedly not limited to, #China, #India, #Syria, #Pakistan, #Qatar, #Mozambique, and several post-Soviet states.
#Lukashenka accepted credentials from Ambassador of Hungary Zita Ilona Benchik
This is the first time in 3 years when the ambassador of the #EU country presents credentials to the #Belarusian dictator.
Lukashenka, in turn, stated his readiness to "continue dialog with #Hungary in order to de-escalate tensions in the region by resolving disputes only through peaceful negotiations.
#Krakow main square on #Ukraine independence day - it has been preempted by a dozen or so of what looked like #Polish ultranationalists suggesting " #Poland had enough of the Banderovites" (there were three times more police than protesters) but they couldn't spoil the mood of hundreds of #Ukrainian and #Belarusian#refugees , celebrating indepent #Ukraine's 32nd birthday
🇧🇾 Images obtained by RFE/RL show that a suspected tent camp thought to be occupied by troops from Russia's #Wagner mercenary group near the #Belarusian village of Tsel is being dismantled.
🇧🇾 🇺🇦 #Belarusian dictator Alexander #Lukashenko admitted that #Russian forces had invaded #Ukraine from the territory of #Belarus in February 2022 in an interview with a pro-Kremlin presenter published on Aug. 17.
3 ys ago today the streets of #Belarus filled with protesters, after the electoral body announced the victory of the incumbent (for 26 ys) #Lukashnka over #Tsihanouskaya Massive protest rallies were held, for months, under the now banned white-red-white (b-ch-b in short in #Belarusian ) despite a massive violent crackdown. Some were shot, thousands arrested, tortured. Among them Maria #Kalesnikava , an opposition leader, being held #incommunicado for the last 6 months
Here's what The Counteroffensive is reading today:
Due to the increased #Wagner presence, #Poland will deploy more troops to its border with #Belarus after two #Belarusian helicopters entered #Polish airspace at low altitudes, hampering radar detection.
While Belarusian is one of the two official state languages in Belarus, the decision to speak, read, and write it can be a dangerous choice for Belarusians. Growing up, the Belarusian poet and translator Valzhyna Mort was aware of how the Belarusian language was perceived in her country. “Belarusian was
#Lukashenko replies: "And my friend #Xi Jinping and my Big Brother President #Putin ."
"But these are not your #weapons we're talking about," I point out. "They're #Russian ones. It's not your decision to take."
"In #Ukraine a whole army is fighting with foreign weapons, isn't it," the #Belarusian leader retorts. "#Nato weapons. Because they've run out of their own. So why can't I fight with someone else's weapons?"(cont.)
#Belarusian Hajun reports that two business jets landed at #Machulishchy military airfield ( #Minsk district). One (RA-02795) belongs to #Prigozhin . The second (RA-02878) flew from St Petersburg...
The opposition there calls the potential moving / deployment of #Wagner in #Belarus - a threat to #Ukraine & the #EU
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has held talks with Wagner mercenary group head Yevgeny Prigozhin during which Prigozhin agreed to stop his troops and "de-escalate the situation", Rossiya 24 news channel said.
Prigozhin accepted Lukashenko's proposal to stop the movement of Wagner in Russian territory and on further steps to de-escalate tension," Rossiya 24 said, quoting Lukashenko's press service
Rossiya 24 said the conversation had been agreed with Putin
The belarusian government has allegedly taken part in the illegal deportation of children from russian-occupied territories of Ukraine
The National Anti-Crisis Management, a group of political opponents to the government of President lukashenko, said in the report that 2,150 Ukrainian children, including orphans aged six to 15, were taken to so-called recreation camps and sanatoriums on #belarusian territory.
In Lukashenko’s Belarus, Belarusian culture is not welcome (kyivindependent.com)
While Belarusian is one of the two official state languages in Belarus, the decision to speak, read, and write it can be a dangerous choice for Belarusians. Growing up, the Belarusian poet and translator Valzhyna Mort was aware of how the Belarusian language was perceived in her country. “Belarusian was