Read on Twitter
Me and some other amateur Belarus watchers have been wondering: where are the titushki?
Before and during the 2013-2014 Maidan revolution in Ukraine, Yanukovych regime used hired thugs to attack protesters and journalists. The name comes from one such thug Vadim Titushko.
Before and during the 2013-2014 Maidan revolution in Ukraine, Yanukovych regime used hired thugs to attack protesters and journalists. The name comes from one such thug Vadim Titushko.
One possibility is that titushki don't arise out of thin air: in Ukraine, hired muscle as a continuation of politics with other means has a long history, such as right-wing groups "Oplot" and SNA in Kharkiv, which ended up on different sides of the war in Donbas.
Other regimes have institutionalised their titushki, such as Venezuelan Collectivos or Iranian Basij.
However, in Russia titushki are few and far between, rarely turning up at opposition rallies, only smaller groups like SERB come to mind.
However, in Russia titushki are few and far between, rarely turning up at opposition rallies, only smaller groups like SERB come to mind.
With Belarusian security forces evidently stretched thin, is the regime not employing titushki because they've never done it and now can't materialize them out of thin air? Do they think the general population too unreliable? Do they think they aren't at that stage yet?
Suspected as much, great if true (also shows he was so confident in his support that he neglected manufacturing astroturfed grassroots orgs and paralimilitaries) https://twitter.com/TadeuszGiczan/status/1293943307484176384
