Belarusian Troops Will Flee 'Immediately' If Sent to Ukraine: Oppositionist

Exiled Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya said on Thursday that Belarus' troops would flee "immediately" if they were sent to join Russians in the war in Ukraine.

Tsikhanouskaya told Ukrainska Pravda that if Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered his troops to fight in Ukraine that "the Belarusians will not fight. They will flee, surrender immediately, as your 'I want to live' campaign urges."

The "I want to live" campaign is a Ukrainian hotline that encourages Russian soldiers to surrender and helps them with resources if they decide to give up.

"We are disseminating this information through our networks to our military: 'Apply immediately, do not fight,'" Tsikhanouskaya added.

Tsikhanouskaya is the leader of the Belarusian democratic movement who ran against Lukashenko in the 2020 presidential election. She fled the country after a Moscow-backed crackdown on opposition, according to Politico.

"Belarusian soldiers are not motivated to fight against Ukrainians," she said. "Moreover, they perfectly understood that they are not experienced in military operations, they would be used as cannon fodder. And Lukashenko understood these sentiments in the army. Now, it is extremely unlikely that such an order [to fight in Ukraine] can be issued, but under pressure, of course, Lukashenko can do it.

"But the fact that he does not send troops, as you say, officially, is not because he wants to help Ukraine in any way, he wants to somehow protect Ukraine by not introducing Belarusian troops. He cares only about his place, about his power. Because for him this order will mean, frankly speaking, political suicide."

Russia reportedly turned to Belarus recently to acquire at least 100 additional tanks and infantry fighting vehicles as its troops struggle to obtain military equipment to continue fighting in Ukraine.

British defense officials said that the Russian troops "are likely frustrated that they are forced to serve in old infantry combat vehicles which they describe as aluminum cans."

On Tuesday, Ukrainian Armed Forces spokesperson Yevhen Silkin ruled out the possibility of Belarus attacking Ukraine in the near future, saying it is unlikely to get involved in the war unless its Russian allies can show that they have the capability to launch a new offensive.

Silkin said that Belarus potentially attacking Ukraine mainly depends on whether Russia can offer at least 50,000 troops as reinforcements to the offensive through its ongoing mobilization efforts—a goal Silkin said it is unlikely to meet until sometime in the spring.

However, he still warned against the threat of an attack, saying that it could increase "significantly" early next year based on Russia's ability to recruit more troops.

"We can be sure [that the Russian Federation will launch a new offensive from the north] when there are enough enemy troops on the territory of Belarus," Silkin said, according to a translation by the Kyiv Post. "Namely, when they strengthen the grouping of troops to about 50,000 to 70,000. Then we will be able to say that the Russians are ready for a new offensive."

Newsweek reached out to the Belarusian Foreign Affairs Ministry for comment.