Belarus

version

Well-known member
What the fuck?
Unidentified masked men snatched the leading Belarusian opposition figure Maria Kolesnikova from the street in the centre of the capital, Minsk, on Monday and drove her away in a minivan, witnesses told local media.

It is unclear who abducted Koselnikova. Her coordination council colleagues who have disappeared include Anton Rodnenkov, Ivan Kravtsov and Maxim Bogretsov. Her press team is also missing.

Kolesnikova’s press aide, Rodnenkov, confirmed her abduction but vanished himself around 40 minutes later, it reported. Kolesnikova’s allies said they were checking the report of her detention. Police in Minsk were cited by Russia’s Interfax news agency as saying they had not detained her.
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
OK that's something. Seems they kidnapped them but luckily didn't have the balls to lock them up or worse.
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Possibly an element of testing the water - seeing what they can get away with in terms of international sanctions.
 

sus

Well-known member
Totally possible, but how was there any outcome to the plan "kidnap an opposition leader and then dump them on the border" other than fueling protests, at a time when de-escalating is the primary political priority?
 

sus

Well-known member
I guess I'm just saying you gotta imagine whoever orchestrated this has escalating, rather than de-escalating, tensions as a priority, regardless of side—albeit, that may just reflect the President's interests
 

Mr. Tea

Let's Talk About Ceps
Totally possible, but how was there any outcome to the plan "kidnap an opposition leader and then dump them on the border" other than fueling protests, at a time when de-escalating is the primary political priority?
No idea. Maybe they had something more drastic in mind and then bottled it?

I'm not sure it's a given that they want to de-escalate, either. Look at Trump - when has he ever "de-escalated" anything?
 

IdleRich

IdleRich
The thing is, they got two of them out of the country and almost a third. Presumably once out they would not be let back in. So, although it was obviously awful and underhand, they probably believed that the situation on the ground would move in their favour.
 

luka

Well-known member
im sure Craner will talk you through it when hes finished work. he spent almost two decades in the embassy in Beleros, hes pretty familair with the way things work there
 
Top