The authoritarian leader of Belarus led his nation’s Victory Day celebrations on Monday by identifying the West as the main threat facing his former Soviet state. “Today, Belarus is being threatened from abroad. A bitter information and political war is being waged against it,” President Alexander Lukashenko told a parade marking the anniversary of the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany.
“They are trying to split our society apart, filling it with fear and distrust for one another,” Lukashenko said while his six-year-old son Kolya, the fruit of an extra-marital relationship, stood at his side. The veteran Belarus leader has been ostracised by much of the international community since winning a disputed re-election last year that led to the arrest of hundreds of protesters and several top opposition candidates. Two of those candidates have gone on trial facing charges that could leave them behind bars between three and 15 years. Several others remain in pretrial detention.