Belarus opposition leader warns of Russias threat: We know dictatorship – National [Video]

The exiled leader of the opposition to Belarus’ authoritarian government says her country’s struggle for democracy is also one for its sovereignty as Russia continues to draw Belarus into its war on Ukraine.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, who fled to Lithuania in 2020 after President Alexander Lukashenko deployed a severe crackdown on protests against his disputed election win, says Lukashenko’s confirmation last week that “several dozen” Russian nuclear weapons have been positioned inside Belarus is another example of Russia’s subjugation, which has affected “all spheres of Belarusian life.”

“For us, it’s a question of sovereignty of Belarus,” she told Mercedes Stephenson in an interview that aired Sunday on The West Block.

“If these brutal dictators (Lukashenko and Russian President Vladimir Putin) launch these nuclear weapons, the counterattack will be on Belarus. … This is a crime.”

Lukashenko and Putin have strengthened their alliance in the wake of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, helping each other evade economic sanctions …