Volfovich And Government Officials Are Mocking Lukashenko

• 11.08.2026, 9:04

What's the catch with the "lazy people to the army" policy?

What started out as a bad joke has come true. The Ministry of Defense published photos of the first participants in military training exercises organized by order of Lukashenko for “employees and managers of agricultural enterprises who failed to fulfill their duties during the 2026 harvest.”

It would seem that this whimsical order has been carried out, and its author should be satisfied, but… In our opinion, there’s hardly any cause for him to rejoice in this story. On the contrary, there are plenty of reasons to be wary and, once again, to begin suspecting those close to him.

Let’s start with the fact that the decision itself to conscript farmers who have committed violations and relevant officials into the army is not only absurd but also fraught with inevitable negative consequences, which have already been discussed at length.

This involves diverting an already scarce workforce in the midst of the harvest season—a move that seems even more absurd given that soldiers are simultaneously being sent to help with the harvest. And there are the additional costs of “re-educating” negligent workers.

Not to mention how it looks in and of itself to send undisciplined workers to elite units, where service is, in any country, a privilege reserved for the select few.

Moreover, everyone involved in the “slackers to the army” operation is well aware of all this. General Karaev himself, who smartly tipped his cap, speaks openly about the labor shortage in rural areas. Reporting on the first “conscripts,” he eloquently added: “We rounded them up from all over the region (…) Not too many—just enough so that our harvest isn’t affected.”

Nevertheless, officials meekly rushed to carry out an order that was obviously illogical and doomed to fail. Just as, incidentally, they had done in previous years. So what’s the catch for Lukashenko here?


First and foremost, it’s him. He has visibly aged and is increasingly absent from public view, missing events that are significant to him.

And every new photo or video capturing his fatigue reignites discussions about his health and his ability to continue controlling the situation.

Such a long tenure in power inevitably leads to a disconnect from reality. His orders and whims are becoming increasingly outlandish.

And instead of trying to slow him down and protect themselves from his folly in the most extravagant cases, officials have begun to carry out everything to the letter, sometimes with zeal.

And sometimes it’s as if they’re mocking us, like that same Security Council chairman Alexander Volfovich, who spoke in public just like a regional party committee secretary back in the days of the senile Brezhnev.

Then again, who better than him to know how it all ended in the early ’90s? And one gets the feeling that both he and all the other executors of the ruler’s will are simply waiting for the finale. Here, as in a well-known novel, it’s either the donkey or the padishah.

Kirill Ivanov, “Solidarity”