What Is Lukashenko Hiding About His Shameful "brainchild"?
- 24.01.2026, 12:04
The waste of budget money has long since become an anecdote.
The ruler of Belarus signed a decree to support the pro-governmental "Belarusian Republican Youth Union.
As before, the territorial bodies of the BRSM will be financed from local budgets, while the published text contains a number of provisions marked "for official use," noted "Radio Svaboda.
Additional sources of funding for the "lukomol" in 2026, as well as information about the distribution of funds to support student groups and the central committee of the BRSM were classified.
The annual embezzlement of budget money for court "patriots" has long become a joke. Let's remind only the brightest moments.
In 2002, the organization, which changed its name from the Belarusian Patriotic Union of Youth to the current version, received an instruction from Lukashenko: to reach self-sufficiency by 2005.
But the miracle didn't happen; three years later, the "patriots" not only failed to reach self-financing, but also received a new postponement - this time for five years. And then another one, and another...
The "union" itself, which received from the budget for its existence a little less than the Council of Ministers and more than all preschool education, finally turned into the "Rich Republican Union of Youth".
Lukashenko harshly criticized his brainchild more than once - first for the lack of progress in the transition to self-financing, and later for its uselessness.
The year 2020 was a telling one, when the half-million organization showed itself in all its glory: against the background of mass popular protests, BRSM behaved like a mouse under a broom. And this is not surprising: the organization was stillborn from the very beginning. Its ranks are replenished voluntarily and compulsorily (the second component is stably dominant), ordinary members are forced to pay dues and participate in government events in all weathers.
In early 2021, the governor was forced to admit: the work with pro-government organizations, including youth organizations, has completely failed. But he did not stop digging into the budget.
The use of the DSSP label in the documents on the BRSM financing began in the early 2010s. But in 2026 secrecy in this matter looks especially symbolic against the background of pipes bursting in the frost.
In a situation when everyone understands that you yourself realize the uselessness of your brainchild, moreover, you have publicly admitted it more than once, it's not a good idea to tell everyone how much you plan to spend from the common pocket on patriots for official use.
Kirill Ivanov, "Salidarnasts"