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When Russian troops first streamed across the Belarusian border into Ukraine for what they had assumed would be a lightning assault on Kyiv, they were intending to rely on the region’s extensive rail network for supplies and reinforcements. The Russians hadn’t taken into account the railway saboteurs of Belarus. Starting in the earliest days of the invasion in February, a clandestine network of railway workers, hackers and dissident security forces went into action to disable or disrupt the railway links connecting Russia to Ukraine through Belarus, wreaking havoc on Russian supply lines.

Dozens of statements from ordinary trackmen and line workers, rail hands and IT specialists, conductors and engineers showed the depth and breadth of opposition in Belarus to Russia’s war, as well as towards Mr Lukashenko. “I know these guys – they are drivers, security guards and maintenance crews,” Franak Viacorka, an adviser to Belarusian opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, tells The Independent in an interview. ...While the war may help Mr Putin consolidate his hold over Russian society and politics, for Belarus and its autocratic leader the conflict could unravel an already shaky calm imposed by force. Polls conducted by the...

Massive explosions in a number of cities in #Belarus. Residents of Baranavichy, Luninets, Stolin, Hantsavichy, Slutsk, Kletsk and other cities reported sounds similar to explosions. We are trying to understand what happened

Few facts, much speculation as explosions heard in Belarus Today, 12:02 am Reports indicate that booms are being heard in several areas of southern Belarus. /snip There is no confirmed reliable information about the source of the blasts, but speculation over the mystery ranges from sonic booms to a false flag attack by Russia to an internal coup. An opposition politician opposed to Minsk’s alliance with Moscow claims 30 aircraft recently took off and 6 missiles were shot near Kalinkovich, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) from the border with Ukraine. /snip

The Belarusian army did not take part in the Russian "special operation" against Ukraine and does not plan to do so, said Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko, reports the Telegram channel Pool 1. "The Belarusian army did not take part in the "special operation" and does not intend to do it," Lukashenka said and added that Belarus is protecting the state border from Brest to Mazyr on its own. "The hybrid war that has been started against Belarus, especially the sanctions war in the economy and finance, is for a long time. They clutch us with a concrete grip. This is...

The deputy minister of defence for Belarus has reportedly submitted his resignation and claimed he cannot support the current Russian invasion of Ukraine. Major General Viktor Gulevich, who is also the chief of the general staff, argued that Belarusian military unit personnel refused to take part in hostilities and that the Armed Forces of Belarus could not complete a single battalion group. Mr Gulevich is among a number of Belarusian officials facing economic sanctions from the UK government because of their closeness with Vladimir Putin.