“Belarus can use nuclear weapons if its independence is threatened”, said the Chief of the General Staff of the country’s armed forces, Muraveiko. This statement is a continuation of preliminary similar statements from Minsk, aimed at describing a misguided threat from Ukraine. Kremlin Speaker Dmytro Pieskov noted that this also causes concern in Moscow.

Specialists from the Center for Countering Disinformation at the National Security and Defense Council drew attention to this message. They note that truly the only threat to the “independence” of Lukashenko and his regime is Russia itself.

A representative of the State Border Service of Ukraine, Andrii Demchenko, said on July 1: “This is not the first time Belarus has announced a threat from Ukraine. This is another round of information operations”. Commenting on Minsk’s statements about preparations to counter “Ukrainian provocations”, a representative of the State National Security Service noted that Belarus carried out the greatest provocation back on February 24, 2022, by opening its border to Russian troops.

Propagandists spread such messages in order to reverse the roles in the current situation - from the victim to the aggressor. By creating an imaginary threat, Russia and Belarus are also trying to justify their common aggression against Ukraine.