Russia Places Belarusian Opposition Leader on Most Wanted List

Tikhanovskaya fled Belarus after waging a presidential campaign that set her in President Lukashenko’s crosshairs. (Wikimedia Commons)

Russia has reaffirmed its commitment to supporting the Belarusian government by placing Belarusian opposition leader Svetlana Tikhanovskaya on its most-wanted list. On October 7, the state-run Russian news agency, RTI Novosti, reported that the Russian government had added Tikhanovskaya to the list allegedly automatically following her placement on the Belarusian most-wanted list. 

Russian authorities did not give details about what crime the government is charging Ms. Tikhanovskaya with, saying only that “[she] is wanted under an article of the Criminal Code."

Despite Russia’s claims, as of October 7, Tikhanovskaya has not been placed on the Belarusian most-wanted list. 

Tikhanovskaya ran against the current Belarusian president, Alexander Lukashenko, in the most recent presidential election in August. Lukashenko has remained in power for 26 years and is heavily suspected of fixing the election. Although Lukashenko was officially declared president with 80.23 percent of the vote, both sides claimed victory, and both the EU and the U.S. have disputed the election’s results.

Following the results of the election, Tikhanovskaya fled to Lithuania, where she had been granted asylum by the Lithuanian government. She has since been reunited with her children, whom she had sent abroad before the election. 

Although a teacher by training, she ran for president as a stand-in for her husband, Sergei Tikhanovsky, a political blogger whom the Belarusian government imprisoned shortly after he announced his candidacy. 

Lukashenko claims that Tikhanovskaya asked for his help to escape Belarus, saying, “And I ordered to fulfill her request and take her to Lithuania to her children, under escort and accompanied by the people she asked for. When she said that she had no money to live there, I ordered a state-run enterprise to give her $15,000.”

Since the election, several world leaders such as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanual Macron have met with Tikhanovskaya. She has previously stated that although she does not want Russia to determine the fate of Belarus, she would be open to  Russian President Vladimir Putin mediating the dispute between her and Lukashenko.

Putin, who strongly backed Lukashenko during the election, has not made plans to meet with her. A spokesperson for him, Dimitry Peskov, said, “Tikhanovskaya is not in Belarus. One can hardly say that she is somehow involved in Belarus’s life.”

Russia currently has several key interests in Belarus, notably the possibility of placing more military forces near the Suwalki Gap, the 60-mile border between Lithuania and Poland. If Russia can position troops in Belarus, it can effectively pinch the border between Belarus and its holdings in Kaliningrad.

NATO strategists worry about Russian control of this border, as Moscow’s military strength could make it possible to cut off the Baltic countries from the rest of the NATO states. NATO has been increasing regional defense with the stationing of 4,000 troops in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Poland. In turn, Russia has also strengthened its military presence in the area, especially in Kaliningrad. 

Belarus is a longtime ally of Russia; both belong to the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a regional bloc composed of former Soviet states. Tikhanovskaya was added to Russia’s most-wanted list as a result of a mechanism outlined by this organization. 

Russia’s decision is only the newest development in the international response to the Belarusian election. The situation will continue to develop as more countries apply sanctions to Belarus and voice their opinions of the Lukashenko administration.