Neither Vladimir V. Putin nor the leader of the Wagner mercenary group made public appearances on Sunday, a day after an armed rebellion shook the nation.
Allowing Moscow to place tactical nuclear weapons on its soil is just the latest sign of its loss of sovereignty to the Kremlin, military experts and pro-democracy activists say.
Roman Protasevich became a symbol of the struggle for democracy when Belarus forced down a plane and arrested him. Now it has pardoned him, and former allies say he has turned on them.