Vladimir Putin prepares security force to put down Belarus election protests

Russian president confirms he is ready to send support to bolster Alexander Lukashenko’s rule

Alexander Lukashenko welcomes Vladimir Putin prior to a Collective Security Treaty Organisation summit in 2017
Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin
(Image credit: Mikhail Metzel/AFP via Getty Images)

Russian President Vladimir Putin has formed a police force to intervene in Belarus if he decides it is necessary to support embattled President Alexander Lukashenko.

Speaking on Russian state TV, Putin said Lukashenko “asked me to set up a certain police reserve - I have done so”.

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Joe Evans is the world news editor at TheWeek.co.uk. He joined the team in 2019 and held roles including deputy news editor and acting news editor before moving into his current position in early 2021. He is a regular panellist on The Week Unwrapped podcast, discussing politics and foreign affairs. 

Before joining The Week, he worked as a freelance journalist covering the UK and Ireland for German newspapers and magazines. A series of features on Brexit and the Irish border got him nominated for the Hostwriter Prize in 2019. Prior to settling down in London, he lived and worked in Cambodia, where he ran communications for a non-governmental organisation and worked as a journalist covering Southeast Asia. He has a master’s degree in journalism from City, University of London, and before that studied English Literature at the University of Manchester.