A leaked document outlines Russia’s plan to absorb Belarus by 2030 (Picture: Getty)
Russia plans to annex Belarus and absorb it into the Russian Federation by 2030, according to a leaked document from Vladimir Putin’s executive office.
The secret dossier, reportedly dated to the summer of 2021, sets out a plan to infiltrate Belarus both politically, economically and militarily.
According to the document, the end goal is the formation of a so-called ‘Union State’ between Russia and Belarus by no later than 2030.
The document lays out every step of the plan in great detail, including the ‘harmonisation’ of Belarusian laws with those of the Russian Federation; a ‘coordinated foreign and defence policy’ and ‘trade and economic cooperation… on the basis of the priority of Russian interests.’
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been a staunch Russian ally for decades (Picture: EPA)
Although both countries are already formally part of a so-called ‘union state’ as per a 1999 agreement, the details of the leaked plan would eliminate whatever remains of Belarus’s sovereignty and cede complete control of its agriculture, industry and military to Moscow.
The plan would also present a major security threat to Belarus’ neighbouring states of Lithuania and Poland, who are members of Nato and the EU and become immediate neighbours of Russia.
Putin has famously described the collapse of the Soviet Union as the ‘greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the 20th century,’ and since coming to power has made countless references to the concept of ‘historical Russia’ and the ‘Russian world.’
The document was authored by a subdivision of Putin’s office, by a group tasked with exerting control over neighbouring countries that Russia sees as in its sphere of influence: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova.
According to Yahoo News, a Western intelligence officer with direct knowledge of the strategy document, said Russia’s domestic, foreign and military intelligence services — the FSB, SVR, and GRU— all actively contributed to the annexation plan.
Similar documents were also unearthed in January which outlined the Kremlin’s plans to seize control of Moldova, which prompted the country’s prime minister to resign.
Unlike the other six former Soviet states Belarus never embraced Western-style democracy after the fall of the Berlin Wall and has instead been ruled with an iron fist for over three decades by Alexander Lukashenko, a staunch Russian ally known as ‘Europe’s last dictator’.
Plans were also in place to increase ifluence on six other former Soviet countries, incuding Moldova and Ukraine (Picture: EPA)
Moscow has maintained about 10,000 troops in Belarus and used the country as a launch pad for its invasion, sending battalions of tanks across the Belarusian border to bear down on Kyiv one year ago.
In return, the Kremlin helped Lukashenko remain in power following the country’s last elections in 2020, which were highly contested and met with nationwide protests and the jailing of opposition candidates after Lukashenko declared himself victor.
Thousands were arrested in the ensuing crackdown, and the United States and the European Union responded by no longer recognizing Lukashenko as the country’s president.
But while Belarus has been one of the few countries to openly support Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, behind the scenes Lukashenko’s relationship with Putin is becoming increasingly strained as he is strong-armed into slowly cutting ties with the West and renouncing Belarus’ autonomy.
The document, obtained by an international consortium of journalists, has yet to be indepenently verified but is widely believed to be authentic.
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The secret document outlines Putin’s plan to take full control of Belarus’ politics, economy and military by the end of the decade.
