Opposition leader says Belarus shouldn’t fight for Russia

By YURAS KARMANAU and DASHA LITVINOVA
Associated Press

TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — An opposition leader in exile from Belarus says her country’s soldiers should lay down their arms if they are deployed to Ukraine under pressure from Russia. Russia used Belarus as a staging ground for troops and weapons when it invaded Ukraine eight months ago. Concerns persist that the authoritarian president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, might agree to send his own troops south into Ukraine. Opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who has been in exile in Lithuania since 2020, said the leadership of Belarus has become a hostage of powerful allies in Moscow who provide political and economic support. She opposes the direct involvement of Belarus in the war.