Siarhei Dyleuskі: Lukashenka's Illusion Crumbles Like House Of Cards

The situation at Motovelo is a case in point.

The Charter97.org website talked about the sentiments among the Belarusian workers, the situation at enterprises, the liberation of Belarus and the victory of Ukraine with the leader of the Belarusian Workers’ Union Siarhei Dyleuskі.

— Siarhei, since the beginning of the war, you started to visit Ukraine as a volunteer. Tell us what are you doing?

— First of all, I would like to note that we, the Belarusian Workers’ Union, travel to Ukraine exclusively on humanitarian missions. Our assistance consists in the delivery of humanitarian aid, food, medicines for the civilians who have suffered after military operations. Without exaggeration, I can say that we travelled all over Ukraine: Lviv, Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Kharkiv, Mykolaiv and other cities. We've been almost everywhere.

— What did you see that surprised you?

— Two things struck me the most. The first is that some cities are almost completely destroyed, simply wiped off the face of the earth. The second is that in the 21st century, in fact, in the center of Europe, people are forced to live in basements and boil water from puddles, because there are no living conditions. This is because of the war, because Russia is dropping bombs, and launching missiles against the vital infrastructure of cities. Missiles hit thermal power plants, hydroelectric power plants, and water supply facilities. People are left without any basic livelihoods. Our team of the Belarusian Workers’ Union, considered that our task, as citizens of the country from which these missiles are being launched, are to try to compensate for this by all available means.

— How are Belarusians treated in Ukraine now?

— The attitude is actually tense. I quite often travel with a team of paramedics and participate in the evacuation of the wounded, the civilian population from Ukraine for treatment in Europe. And when the patients find out that I am Belarusian, they get shocked. Because in fact, Belarusians are not treated very well, but here some kind of Belarusian volunteer came to Ukraine. But it’s enough to talk to people for about five minutes and Ukrainians are imbued when you convey information to them that not all Belarusians are equally useless.

— The Belarusian industry also suffered from the military actions of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. What is the current situation at the enterprises?

— Belarusian enterprises worked very little for export. If we are talking about the machine-building industry, then exports were often made precisely in the eastern direction. Now supplies to the West have completely stopped, absent at all. Also, a huge problem is the supply of assembly components. Unfortunately, the comrade, who is ruling now, showed this using the MotoVeloZavod example. Belarus produces almost nothing of its own. All technologies and capacities are either copied, or stolen, or made under license. And when the Lukashenka regime fell under sanctions, the possibility of producing various kinds of products simply closed, it is now gone.

— What should Belarusian workers prepare for, according to your information on the state of Belarusian enterprises?

— At the moment, they are trying to pull out unprofitable enterprises at the expense of slightly more profitable ones, but this leads to the collapse of both. That is, the situation is very sad, it is not known how long this will last: another month, two, maybe three. Then plants will simply stop because there will be no money to pay people for their work. Employees do not have work even now, enterprises are introducing servicing days. If earlier Subotnicks (territory cleaning by regular employees - Ed.) were held once every six months, now almost once a week, in order to keep people busy with something.

— Which industries have suffered mostly because of the sanctions and the war?

— The spheres related to the electronics industry, absolutely everything related to electronics, suffered the most. The largest deliveries of production components were connected in one way or another with electronics. Most of the components for tractors, cars, wheeled tractors, and also motorcycles, imported from Europe and other countries were precisely electronics. It is impossible to deliver the components now. If simple iron parts can still be somehow melted and assembled at the expense of the Russian resource, then there are simply no electronic components. Therefore, industries associated with the electronics industry suffer the most.

— How have the sentiments among workers changed lately?

— The sentiments are the same as six months ago. This is a complete decay, a complete misunderstanding of what is happening. Also, there is a general rise in prices for absolutely everything, an increase in the price of life. People are earning less and prices are going up. This oppresses Belarusians, but how much more patience they will have is not yet clear.

— What do Belarusian workers think about the war in Ukraine?

— Absolutely negative, but it is not recommended to talk about it. We know very well that in Belarus and Russia you can get a sentence for this. People do not support the actions of the Belarusian authorities, they do not support the actions of the Russian authorities, but for some reason, they prefer to keep silent about it.

— What should be done to bring closer the liberation of Belarus and the victory of Ukraine?

— As I said a year ago, a year and a half ago, I will also repeat today: in the case of workers, then quiet riots and strikes will help in Belarus. In fact, this is obvious. If the workers stop production, then the whole illusion of this stability, the illusion of well-being, which the Lukashenka regime is trying to sell us, will simply crumble like a house of cards.

— Today, more and more people say that the situation in Belarus can be changed by military-political means. Perhaps with the help of Belarusian volunteers and those who want to liberate Belarus with arms. What role could Belarusian workers play in such a scenario?

— In case of such a scenario, the best thing the Belarusian workers can do is a partisan war against the Lukashenka regime. We see what is happening now in Russia, and what is happening in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine: ammunition depots are ignited because of careless handling of fire. Often this is the work of partisan detachments, the partisan movement. Belarusian workers may help to liberate our country in this way if hostilities begin, in the event of a military scenario of overthrowing the regime in Belarus.

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