Svetlana Tikhanovskaya, the West’s chosen (but unelected) ‘head of state’ in Belarus, addressed the US Senate on Wednesday. She called for the US to “expand sanctions against President Lukashenko’s accomplices who finance his rule, including enterprises such as Belaruskali and the Mozyr Oil refinery.” (Belaruskali is one of the world’s largest producers of potash fertilizer.) Of note, Belarus is one of the world’s leading producers of heavy machinery, including the famous Minsk Tractor Works.
Tikhanovskaya received 10% of the vote in last year’s election, though she claims she really got 60-70%. She now operates out of Vilnius, Lithuania, and has been on a tour of various Western capitals as the real head of state. The spokesperson for Russia’s Foreigin Office, Maria Zakharova, commented on Tikhanovskaya’s lobbying for sanctions on her fellow Belarusians: “Belarusians work at these enterprises! How can one ask to target people, their own citizens, who have been creating a domestic product for years, decades?!”
