After activists attempted to disrupt parts of the railway network in order to make it more difficult for Russia to send the military into Ukraine for its invasion, Belarus moved on Wednesday to make attempted acts of terrorism punishable by the death penalty.

According to the Belta news agency, the Belarusian lower house of parliament accepted the revision to the penal code in two readings. Before it can take effect, the modification must be approved by the upper house and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

“Destructive forces are continuing terrorist (and) extremist activity by trying to rock the situation in Belarus, provoking domestic instability and conflicts,” house speaker Vladimir Andreychenko said, alluding to acts of sabotage on the railway.

“Actions are being taken to disable railway equipment and tracks, objects of strategic importance,” He said. “There can be no justification for the actions of terrorists.”

Russia utilized ex-Soviet Belarus, a close ally, as a staging area for its invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Minsk denies any role in the fighting but admits that its land was exploited in the invasion.

Throughout the attack, opposition media sites claimed that sabotage was carried out on the Belarusian railway in order to stymie Russian soldiers’ progress.

According to such allegations, they targeted certain infrastructure in order to destroy various portions of the railway.

The Belarusian opposition, which had called on Belarusians to obstruct highways, said that dozens of acts of sabotage had occurred.

Belarusian police reported in early April that they had apprehended at least two sets of saboteurs and that in one case they opened fire before detaining sabotage. According to the report, at least two persons were injured.

They have been charged with terrorism by the Prosecutor General.

Belarus now imposes the death sentence for acts of terrorism that result in the loss of life, as well as for violent murders and numerous killings.

The crackdown on anti-government protests in the summer of 2020 has resulted in persons being prosecuted with terrorism for offenses that were previously considered hooliganism.

According to the Investigative Committee, one person was charged with terrorism for splashing red paint on a judge’s car and another for hurling a rock through a prosecutor’s windshield.

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