State-run TV slams Russian neo-Nazis brainwashing Belarus teenagers in 'Orthodox' camps

Russian neo-Nazi Alexei Milchakov

In a recent news piece, ONT, a state-run Belarusian TV station, blasted the Russian World fans who often use Nazi symbols.

The item begins with the story of Belarusian Yauhen Andrushkevich who was arrested for 10 days for having Nazi tattoos on his body. The authors also mention the so-called Russian National Unity (RNE) organization that recruits Belarusians for fighting in Donbas on the side of Russian-backed separatists.

“In order to strengthen the impact on people’s minds, they mixed neo-Nazism and Orthodox symbols. The religious card is being actively played by other RNE-like movements that organize trips to military and patriotic camps in the territory of Russia. And there they teach [Belarusian teenagers] to fight,” ONT journalists state.

The reporters did not fail to tell viewers about the notorious Russian neo-Nazi Alexei Milchakov who has been posing with a swastika from a very young age. The militant actually organizes training and instruction for youngsters in such camps.

17 years ago, a similar ‘training’ in Belarus’ Homiel ended not with a bang but with a whimper: young members of a Russian military and patriotic organization captured a village and took hostages, the journalists recall.

“Although the Russian citizen who organized these ‘exercises’ was sentenced to three years in prison, such ‘teachers’ are born every minute,” ONT warns.

Interestingly, earlier Lukashenka-controlled TV stations used to tacitly approve of or even praised Russia’s annexation of Crimea and intervention in Donbas. In their reports, protesters on Maidan and Ukraine’s volunteer fighters were often called ‘Banderovites’ and ‘fascists’ while pro-Russian militants were shown as heroes. The situation is apparently changing as the ‘heroes’ have become a threat to Belarus’ independence and territorial integrity.

belsat.eu, following ONT