Lukashenko Lives In His Own Reality
- 27.10.2026, 11:26
And it's different from Belarusian TV.
I was walking the other day, tripped, and accidentally fell onto a TV. A Belarusian TV, as is typical. And they were just dividing Odessa and Mykolaiv between Russia and themselves. Because, according to Belarusian TV, Odessa and Mykolaiv will secede from Ukraine, and then Russia won’t abandon them on its own. Because Russia has a generous soul—that is, it’s always ready to pick up what’s been left behind.
Belarusian TV was also discussing why Putin hasn’t ousted President Zelenskyy. And do you know why? Not because Putin hasn’t grown a backbone. But because the next president of Ukraine won’t be any better for Putin than President Zelenskyy.
I mean, Putin simply doesn’t want to. And if he did want to, he would have kicked him out right away. But he doesn’t want to, so he didn’t. And note that Belarusian TV was discussing how Putin could oust President Zelenskyy on the very same day that Putin’s man Medvedev asked Trump to protect them from President Zelenskyy.
In short, Belarusian TV leads a completely unique existence. I want to tell you that not even Putin lives that kind of life in his bunker. Because Putin in the bunker is just on the offensive every day on all fronts, while on Belarusian TV, “Ukraine has already lost” is the message literally every day.
Never mind Putin. But the “guarantor” of stability on Belarusian TV has been living a completely different life lately. This “guarantor” of stability is actually trying to persuade Putin to wrap up the war somehow. He says things are bad for them now, but they’ll be much worse later. If Putin doesn’t end the war, the two of them will be left all alone.
So it turns out that Belarusian TV and its “guarantor” have diametrically opposed views on life. While the “guarantor” ponders how to go on living, TV is living its best imaginary life. And I’m, of course, agonizingly curious to see how far the TV’s imagination will take it.
I mean, I understand that the TV’s reserves of imagination are unlimited. But there are also natural bureaucratic and administrative constraints. Because this dissonance between the TV and its “guarantor” can cause all sorts of cognitive distortions in those who claim to be witnesses to stability. How is an ordinary person supposed to figure out whether Zelenskyy is still a scoundrel or already a respected figure? So, of course, it would be best to change the TV’s operating instructions after all, just to shut off its fountain of eloquence.
On the other hand, maybe there’s no need to shut off any of the TV’s fountains. Maybe some people are also living their best imaginary life on TV right now—the one where Kyiv was taken in three days and the port of Odesa was handed over for free. Because, after all, they have nowhere else to live this wonderful life.
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