alexandra lucas think -- alexander lukashenko has become essential to his military operation.ven before he invaded ukraine. at the beginning of february, the twcountries ld joint military exercises. the drills were a show of strength. and or proof to the outside world that belarus had become a russian satellite. after russia invaded ukraine, belarus even changed its constitution to reverse its non-nuclear status. that means all russian weapons, including nuclear, are allowed on belarusian soil. but alexander lukashenko has so far rused to commit forces to aid putin's war. >> we are not going to get involved in the operation that russia is conducting ukraine. most importantly, i am telling you, is a military servicemen, there is no need for it -- serviceman, there is no need for it. reporter: that surprised many. but there doesn't appear to be the appetite for russia's war, even among former soldiers who have left belarus and are now fighting with ukrainian forces. at only 45,000 active members, the belarusian army is tiny, compared to russia's. it appears though that moscow ne

in belarusian leader alexander lukashenko in 2020. this is a battle against both vladimir putin's forces and the regime of lukashenko, which has heavily backed moscow. we meet some of the recruits in warsaw preparing for the journey. of the recruits in warsaw preparing for thejourney. pas of the recruits in warsaw preparing for the journey-— for the “ourney. pas val came back from for the journey. pas val came back from his life _ for the journey. pas val came back from his life in _ for the journey. pas val came back from his life in new— for the journey. pas val came back from his life in new york _ for the journey. pas val came back from his life in new york to - for the journey. pas val came back from his life in new york to battle | from his life in new york to battle the creme and's forces, supported by president lukashenko of belarus —— kremlin. i president lukashenko of belarus -- kremlin. ., , president lukashenko of belarus -- kremlin. . , ., kremlin. i really admire the ukrainian — kremlin. i really admire the ukrainian nati

missy: to remind our readers, that's alexander lukashenko, the longtime leader of belarus. want to get to more about your personal and political history but first let's talk about the russian troops positioned now in belarus. what do you know about how many are currently there and do you believe this could become a permanent presence of russian military forces in belarus? svetlana: i cannot say anything about russian forces in our territory. everything is in deep secret. but i think at the moment our country is under occupation. because lukashenko, he can provide our country with serenity because he could easily make lukashenko send troops to ukrainian territory. for ordinary belarusians we see how officers are working in our cities and when ukrainian people often asked why don't you protect against this, we explain it's like living in iraq. there's the presence of russian troops, the cost of the protest is too high. they arrest people who criticize the war. he is in prison, schoolteacher was detained for wearing a ribbon in their hair. it's difficult to protest but we see

missy: just to remind our readers, that's alexander lukashenkoer, the long-time leader of belarus much i want to get to a little bit more about your personal and political history. but first let's talk about the russian troops that are positioned now in belarus. what do you know about how many are currently there? and do you believe that this could become a permanent presence of russian military forces in belarus? svetlana: i can't say anything about the quantity of this -- of russian forces in our territory because they are rotating all the time. and everything is in deep secret. but i think at the moment our country is de facto anti-military occupation of russian federation -- under military occupation of russian federation. because lukashenko, for sure he doesn't control russian troops. he can provide our country with never inity. because if it's for the president of russia, he could eisley make -- easily make luke lukashenko send troops to a territory. we see how russian officers are working in our cities. when the russian people are asking us, why don't we protest against this, it

belarus president alexander lukashenko said he took steps to restore the electricity in response to auest from russia. the director-general of the international atomic agency said in a statement thursday ukraine informed the agency it had lost all communication with the plant. the agency is still trying to confirm whether power had been restored. >>> the chinese premiere wants to play a positive role in restoring piece to ukraine while continuing to impose sanctions on russia. >> translator: china calls for maximum restraint to prevent a large-scale humanitarian crisis. china has put forward and iniative t deal with the humanitarian problem in ukraine and has started and continued to provide humanitarian assistance to ukraine. >> li spoke to reporters on friday after the close of the annual session of the national people's congress. he said the territorial sb integrity of all nations must be respected. but china's number two leader reiterated the opposition to sanctions against moscow. he insisted they were in no one's interest and warned of the threat they pose to the world economic

. >> just to remind our readers that alexander lukashenko is a longtime leader of belarus. svetlana, i definitely want to get a little bit more about your personal and political history, but first let's talk about the russian troops that are position now in belarus. what do you know about how many are currently there? and do you believe that this could become a permanent presence of russian military forces in belarus? >> i can't say anything about the russian forces and our territory because they are -- everything is in deep secret. but i think that at the moment our country is under occupation of russian federation. because lukashenko for sure -- doesn't control russian troops. he can't provide our country with serenity because he could easily make lukashenko send their troops to ukrainian territory. so for ordinary belarusians we co russian officers are working in our cities, and when ukrainian people asking us why do to protect? we explain it's like living in black. the present of russian troops -- the cost is too high. theop arrest people. even -- he's in prison. in eas

their leader alexander lukashenko beholden to vladimir putin, especially over the course of the last few years. they have extended them a financial lifeline, we have seen a meeting between the two of them every few months. and we have seen buildup to this exact scenario where before the war, before russia invaded ukraine, we saw russia and belarusian troops with joint military exercises, in belarus and there was 30,000 russian troops there at the time. the question was would they stay there permanently, what would belarus' role be. for now he said he's not participating in the war, but he is beholden to vladimir putin and it is a clear sign of the desperation that we're seeing on the russian front to be honest with you if in fact they need the extra reinforcements from the belarusian troops who are, by the way, not very well trained. they haven't fought a war outside of their own land and the perimeter there. so they're seeing what russian troops are now facing against the ukrainian resistance. i'm not sure how emboldened they will be now to join them. but, of course, these troops do

thousands have arrived here after the disputed re—election of the belarusian leader alexander lukashenkos, this is a battle against both putin's forces and the regime of lukashenko which has heavily backed moscow. michael lowen meets some of the recruits in warsaw preparing for the journey. pavel kulazhanka came back from his life in new york to battle kremlin�*s forces who are supported by president lukashenko of belarus. without independent and free ukraine, there is no independence for belarus. i really admire ukrainian nation. from the very beginning, we supported ukrainians in their fight for freedom. and i'd like to have my belarusian nation to be as strong and powerful as ukrainians right now. do you think lukashenko will send belarusian troops into ukraine? i hope so because if he sends someone to ukrainian soil, we will destroy them on ukrainian territory first and then we won't have a lot of problems with our comeback to our motherland. for these dissidents, it is in part a proxy war against a regime at home that has made belarus a launch pad for russian attacks on ukraine — 30

today he received in moscow one of his few remaining allies on the world stage, alexander lukashenkoameras, mr putin talked about the impact of sanctions on his country and dismiss them, saying, you know, the soviet union existed under sanctions and that went on to achieve, he said, colossalsuccess. jenny hill, thank you. and live now to washington and our correspondent, barbara plett usher. what is likely to happen at this un security council meeting? it is security council meeting? it is often said _ security council meeting? ut 3 often said diplomacy is war by other means and that is what we have been seeing at the un so this is the latest battle in that war, i think. we can expect to hear the russians repeater accusations that the united states is funding ukrainian research into pathogens, deadly pathogens that could be used as a weapon against russia. we can expect the united states to again deny that. saying that this is nonsense, they have no biological weapons laboratories in the world, they are funding public health research in ukraine into how to mitigate the spread of dang

now, last week the belarusian president, alexander lukashenko, said there were no plans for belarusian troops to assist in their invasion. but ukrainian intelligence were indicating perhaps russian troops were readying themselves. but yesterday these negotiators said that no longer seems to be the case. listen. >> translator: i wouldn't exaggerate the threat from belarusian side. periodically we see information there's some military activation or mobilization there. if you verify this information you should know as of now right now there's no level of movement necessary for belarus to take part and facilities alongside russia. >> one of the things we learned in that briefing is that ucrippian negotiators claim they had brought up or made this proposal in those talks to have a 30 kilometer buffer zone around all the nuclear power plants in ukraine, a buffer zone where there would be no violence, no fighting taking place. the russians seemed to brush that off and now obviously we have this situation happening where things are quite fragile around one particular nuclear power plant in thi

in fact, one of their last remaining allies is belarusian strongman alexander lukashenko, seen here dressedenemies. got some very old enemies, evidently. ( laughter ) unfortunately for putin, lukashenko might not be the sharpest turnip in the basket, because yesterday, a reporter tweeted out this photo, explaining that lukashenko was addressing his security council, showing planned troop movements, infrastructure targets, and a plan to divide ukraine into four parts. this guy is worse than the dumbest bond villain. ( as villain ) "as you can see from this map, mister bond, i have detailed plans to take over ukraine. promise not to memorize it! i will now leave you to a very slow and unsupervised death. and i will just leave my cellphone right here." ( laughter ) ( applause ) even-- even-- even worse-- thank you. thank you. even worse-- ( applause ) thanks. thanks. i'm annual actor. even worse, the map suggests that putin is considering an attack on moldova. that's right. an invasion of moldova is being, "mulled ova." nothing, joe. thank you. i was laying bets downstairs if you were going to

into power after 2024 will be illegal and putin will not be recognized as nicolas maduro and alexander lukashenkon belarus, that maybe will be helpful to us. >> all right, elena, thank you so much for joining us on cnn. we appreciate it. >>> let's go back to cnn's salma abdelaziz. and overnight a little before 6:00 a.m. we heard a series of explosions not far from our position here. tell us more about what happened because here we are, we are basically close to the polish border. >> reporter: absolutely. and this is, again, part of this intensification, this widening of the russian attack, the russian invasion on this country that had so far really focused on the east. ware now seeing strikes on the west. the latest as you said just after 6:00 a.m. near the polish border, a base, essentially, a really big base that's been used for training ukrainian soldiers in the past. american troops have been there in past years as well to help with their ukrainian allies. so this is a very important and strategic military position for the ukrainian military. now, we don't know details on where the strike hit

alexander lukashenko may have given away. he stood in front of of a map showing moldova. >> lukashenko stood in front of the ukrainian map detailing russia's battle plan, which suggests moving troops from odessa into neighboring moldova. >> trevor: this is crazy, man. there is a chance russia is planning to invade moldova after ukraine? what's even crazier, we know this because this guy, the leader of belarus, and clearly the stepdad in every 80's porno, filmed himself giving away the plan. just standing there, "this is the plan. this is the plan." i always go, this can't be real life. this is what happens in the movies. you know how there's a hench man who is like,s, this is the master plan. we're going to-- oh, no! mr. bond took a picture with his camera penis. get him." i also feel ba for the intern who had to get that map. they probably killed everyone in a kinko to keep it a secret. >> right now, we live in the age of misinformation. we don't know what this is. we don't know if that's real. we don't know if that's photos

belarusian president alexander lukashenko has been relying more and more on support from moscow ever since he faced weeks of protests, the demonstrations following his 2020 re-election in a contest that critics say was rigged. >>> the senior adviser to svetlana hanuskya, the opposition leader widely believed to have actually won the belarusian presidential election, joins me from the lithuanian capital, vilnius. how difficult has it been to see the belarusian president, lukashenko, so eagerly sign up to help putin with his invasion, and what will be the regional impact of that? >> lukashenko, the price he pays for putin's support in 2020. he will definitely not survive the crisis that started after elections, rigged elections. and putin gave him political support, financial support, diplomatic support. and now he's paying for this. he's not an independent figure anymore. he lost respect and support among ordinary belarusians. right now he's trying to drag our country into this war. he lost support even among the elites. >> i know, but what's going to be the fallout for him? what will

soldiers or death to president -- russian president vladimir putin or belarusian president alexander lukashenko temporarily made loallowances fr forms of political expressions that would normally violate our rules like violent speech. meta will still take action if those calls are credible rather than general or involve other people still, a striking statement and shows how difficult it has been for social media platforms and for tech to strike the right path here. strange times, but, you know, understandable that they pivot >> yeah, so much of what we've seen from all the social media networks has still been reactive, but that either highlights how hard it's been for them to actually create policies to account for unpredictable, volatile events, one thing is for sure, john, i would not want to be on facebook's oversight board these issues will keep coming up >> they do, indeed and with that, the dow slightly in the green the s&p off fractionally the halftime report starts now let's get to the judge >> all right, john, thanks welcome to the "halftime report." i'm scott wapner front and center t

to the hate speech policy that will allow some posts to call for death to vladimir putin or alexander lukashenko. >> the government has been trying to block social media platforms from russia as part of the disinformation campaign to essentially trick the russian people, they are lying to the russian people about what is happening, because if the russian people realize the the full extent of the atrocities being committed by putin in their name, they would be extremely angry and that's why putin is trying to hide. that the ukrainian army and the ukrainian citizens have every right to defend their homeland, to defend their cities and their town, to defend their hospitals against this aggression by russia and if somebody was attacking the place i represent, if somebody was bombing the university hospital, i would tell you what, i would be in the streets defending my hospital, i would be in the streets defending my town and my neighbors as the ukrainians are quite rightly doing. >> here's another bit of news to have a look at. i spoke a little earlier in the program to a student from glasgow, who p

and what is interesting is alexander lukashenko, the president -- i'll put that in air quotes, thereght now is in moscow, meeting with vladimir putin and has said that russian and belarusian troops have thwarted what he calls thwarted an attack that came from ukraine and thus then proactively they launched attacks on ukrainian troops there. and what is interesting is that he, up until this point, has said that belarus will not be involved in this war. but by tieing this attack to both belarusian troops and russian troops, you're seeing a change in the language, also belarus really gave up its nonnuclear status a few weeks ago, and lukashenko said he would welcome hosting russian nuclear weapons there in the country, the country itself now is essentially a satellite nation to russia after that disputed 2020 election. there were massive protests in the streets of belarus, there had been mass sanctions leveled at belarus from western countries. and the lifeline that was extended to lukashenko from vladimir putin is the reason now you're seeing him so beholden to vladimir putin. the two

will allow some posts that call for the death of vladimir putin or the belarusian president alexander lukashenko. the un nuclear watchdog says the -- all communications with facilities at the nuclear plant it comes a day after the plant lost all external power supplies. a nuclear accident in 1986 it is currently controlled by russian forces. the russian defense ministry says it will declared a cease fire and five ukrainian cities for fleeing citizens, well according to russian media comes after syrians were blocked from leaving the city of mariupol yesterday after forces refused to the on of the cease-fire. into the weekend, let's see how the weather is -- now the next few days will be unsettled with strong winds taking place across the -- southwest britain will see the winds and rain moving in. northeastward in the morning, northern and eastern parts of britain will sunny spells just a few showers for central and western scotland it will be mostly mild and we will fill it with -- across the west of britain where brighton will show any conditions will move to ireland wells in western england. >>

in 1994, alexander lukashenko became the country's first directly elected president.wer and struck a neutral balance between russia and the west. all of that changed in 2020. that was the year that the presidential election, lukashenko claimed was a landslide victory, but it was an election that u.s. and european officials said was neither free nor fair. putin supported the efforts to crush demonstrations when hundreds of thousands of people took to the street to protest that disputed election. earlier this year, putin sent an estimated 30,000 russian troops to belarus for joint military exercises. following russia's invasion, lukashenko rammed through a constitutional referendum that got rid of the pledge that belarus was a non-nuclear state, which meant that russia could move nuclear weapons into belarus. right up against ukraine, as well as latvia, lithuania, poland, all of those are nato members. and in recent days, a senior u.s. defense official said that nearly one out of every ten missiles that russia has fired from ukraine was launched from belarus. joining me

there was some criticism of poland for not taking in those migrants that belarussian president alexander lukashenko had invited over from the middle east and other countries and was sending into the forests of poland and around poland and other eu countries as a sort of hybrid warfare that poland had pushed back . but now poland is stepping up in the face of a real refugee crisis and taking the lion's share of the two million refugees who've left ukraine. and there have been numerous stories coming out of poland of families taking in strangers, other families from ukraine into their often modest apartments and telling them they can stay there as long as they need to trade. amazing stories coming out of poland. amy kellogg live for us from milan. amy, thank you . back to our co-anchor, our chief correspondent jonathan hunt. you know, amy talks about bringing those refugees, but you go back to the gentleman we had on just a few minutes ago. we're talking about sumy pope bob who was giving us that that amazing tour of the burned out and bombed out buildings and the children's playgrounds. and every ni

family have medullary thyroid cancer, death to vladimir putin, or the belarusian president, alexander lukashenko. >> staying with us, doctor liam fox, joining us, live from poland, in just a few minutes. just a few minutes. since i left for college, my dad has gotten back into some of his old hobbies. and now he's taking trulicity, and it looks like he's gotten into some new healthier habits, too. what changes are you making for your type 2 diabetes? maybe it's time to try trulicity. it's proven to help lower a1c. it can help you lose up to 10 pounds. and it's only taken once a week, so it can fit into your busy life. trulicity is for type 2 diabetes. it isn't for people with type 1 diabetes. it's not approved for use in children. don't take trulicity if you're allergic to it, you or your family have medullary thyroid cancer, or have multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. stop trulicity and call your doctor right away if you have an allergic reaction, a lump or swelling in your neck, severe stomach pain, changes in vision, or diabetic retinopathy. serious side effects may include pancreat

alexander lukashenko he's very much a client of volume. in order to remain in power he relies on vladimir putin. in the past he's made suggestions he would fight on the side of the russians if it's something that would become necessary. so far what the u.s. is saying they say they don't really see moves right now that are imminent to see that the belarusians might be preparing to go to battle, however, nato is saying, nato officials and the ukrainians themselves they do believe that is something that could happen very quickly. the belarusian army is one quite large but not necessarily one very well equipped, so certainly they could to a great extent invigorate the russian army but whether or not in the long run the ucrayons wouldn't be able to fend them off, that's a whole other matter. at this point in time it's really unclear whether the belarusians are willing to join the battle. it would certainly have major consequences for that country. the u.s. has already said if the belarusians attack ukraine there would be massive sanctions on th

everybody taking this with a grain of salt, but i want to get your analysis on this, hearing from alexander lukashenkoent of belarus, in case people don't know that, saying vladimir putin is in better shape than ever. we know the friendship that lukashenko has with putin. we know there are possibilities belarus may very well get involved with the invasion into ukraine, with the war in ukraine. what do you make of this? >> i mean, to put it bluntly, i'm really not at all surprised. this is how i would expect lukashenko to respond. i think if he responded differently, quite frankly, that would be a bigger deal. >> his head would be on a stick if he responded differently. >> absolutely. >> to put it frankly. >> he's a puppet of putin, right? that's really what he is. and right now, i believe he's sort of this kind of mouthpiece, if you will. we saw putin kind of later middle of last week coming out, you know, this huge almost pep rally he with with a huge audience, and then we have lukashenko coming out talking about his physique and how healthy he is. and we have known this, we have seen him topless on

. >> has alexander lukashenko ceded control to your country, of your country to the kremlin, do you think? >> i doubt that he's controlling the situation in our country. the only thing he is controlling is repression against the people, and we see that he is closing our sovereignty, our independence, they are the threat at the moment. >> why do you think that bell russia has not come out more, belarus has not come out more in support of ukraine given what may happen next. >> the belarusian people are supporting ukraine. for years, they have already, our country, we have huge repression of people, in the country, but despite of this, they are willing to go straight to ukraine to fight shoulder to shoulder with the ukrainian order. our volunteers, with the ukrainian refugees, helping with other countries. and there are rules against the war, despite the people who are exhibiting the fear. and last sunday 1,000 there, with 800 being taken routine. and they have to show that they are against this war. $. >>> e against this war. $ >> >> and in terms of you, the people of belarus are very much

in the political regime, which cannot speak out these conditions almost a month ago, alexander grigoryevich lukashenkoaphorically, it’s his, but his use of metaphor is such a powerful side. but he said in an interview there, if i remember correctly, that what russia offered ukraine was not a condition of surrender. this is a very acceptable condition. i add on my own, on which a special military operation can be completed. well, if alexander grigoryevich said further, if ukraine from the tapes and personally zelensky is all about dynamite again, then it will come to real surrender. that's what lukashenka said. well , it doesn't reach them. here is an illustration of spiridon, what you are talking about, just an illustration. you see, the subjector with whom we are negotiating, everyone in ukraine said they said. by the way, what will be the investigation in relation to the atrocities. yes, the arrestovich declared, yes it is said. who else said? yes, and medina was told, yes, at the negotiations, further official consent. and this is your state official. i, uh, such lawsuits i am located in the place

happening, in ukraine, it's also a total— happening, in ukraine, it's also a total surrender of alexander lukashenkoeed to lease his land to russian armies— agreed to lease his land to russian armies and — agreed to lease his land to russian armies and not only forjoint exercises _ armies and not only forjoint exercises but also for invasion, as a matter— exercises but also for invasion, as a matter of— exercises but also for invasion, as a matter of fact and this is changing the security situation for the eastern flank of nato for a long time and _ the eastern flank of nato for a long time and for the future, i am afraid — time and for the future, i am afraid. lt— time and for the future, i am afraid. , , . ., ., afraid. it seems clear that moscow has a capital _ afraid. it seems clear that moscow has a capital kyiv _ afraid. it seems clear that moscow has a capital kyiv in _ afraid. it seems clear that moscow has a capital kyiv in its _ afraid. it seems clear that moscow has a capital kyiv in its sights - afraid. it seems clear that moscow has a capital kyiv in its sights and | has a capital kyiv

one other piece of news, by the way, the leader of belarus, alexander lukashenko, telling state mediaay that his forces will not join russian troops in the invasion of ukraine. >> interesting. katty, you know -- i know you have a question, but first let's just follow up on something that keir said. their intel has been horrid. they thought they would be greeted as liberators. the disinformation campaign that the west has feared for four or five years has been just dismal. the ukrainians have run circles around them in the disinformation area. there's just a -- would you like to take that outside, ma'am? >> so sorry. it is boris johnson in poland. i am sending it to the team. >> thank you so much. >> without the volume on. >> you usually see it during commercial breaks. >> that's all right. >> anyway, katty, it is hard to find -- >> sorry. it keeps -- >> katty, can you hold this for me, please. >> send it in. >> i would never separate mika from her telephone. that would be a war crime. >> thank you. >> katty, putin has miscalculated on every front. they're underperforming military. the

he was speaking to his belarusian counterpart alexander lukashenko, during a televised meeting broadcastine this, the _ by different academics. you can imagine this, the heads - by different academics. you can imagine this, the heads of - by different academics. you can - imagine this, the heads of hundreds of russian universities just published an open letter and in this text represent the full pledge of president putin, they fully understand the war, and so on. it is a kind of moral disaster in russian education system, i believe, because any of russian official universities, theyjust really feel like they go to a competent in europe. at the same time, a lot of students and academics and teachers, they are strongly against war, and they are strongly against war, and they published a lot of open letters and the most representative one was published in an independent scientific newspaper, and it was about 7000 academics who signed it, we believe that we can�*t do ourjob any more, we feel like we have to be mobilised for war, our students would be expelled from universities for their posi

thousands have arrived here after the disputed re—election of the belarusian leader, alexander lukashenkoree belarus. i really admire the ukrainian nation. from the very beginning, we supported ukrainians in theirfight forfreedom. and i would like to have my belarusian nation to be as strong and powerful as ukraine is right now. do strong and powerful as ukraine is rirht now. ~ strong and powerful as ukraine is rirht now. i. ~ , right now. do you think lukashenko was in belarus _ right now. do you think lukashenko was in belarus sent _ right now. do you think lukashenko was in belarus sent troops - right now. do you think lukashenko was in belarus sent troops into i was in belarus sent troops into ukraine? i was in belarus sent troops into ukraine? ., , was in belarus sent troops into ukraine? .,, was in belarus sent troops into ukraine? , ., ukraine? i hope so, because of you send someone _ ukraine? i hope so, because of you send someone to _ ukraine? i hope so, because of you send someone to ukrainian - ukraine? i hope so, because of you send someone to ukrainian soil i ukraine? i hope

alexander lukashenko has also seen sanctions slapped on his country as a result of his support for vladimirbe able to sell any more tickets for matches, its merchandise shop will close and it is now banned from buying or selling players on the transfer market. fans are worried. it's a club that suffers. it's the first away game today and it might be the last one for a long time. we don't know... we're not season ticket holders. it's tough from a selfish point of view but there are bigger pictures. what on earth is the future going to bring and how will the government treat a club? mixed for us. obviously we support ukraine. what russia is doing is totally wrong but i don't think we should suffer for it. abramovich's purchase of chelsea in 2003 for £1a0 million transformed the club. under his ownership it has won 17 major trophies, including the fa cup five times as well as its five premier league titles. chelsea also won the uefa champions league in 2012 and 2021. the government says abramovich has had a close relationship with russian president vladimir putin for decades, links abramovich