The Russian military has begun to carry out tasks in BelarusBelarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said on October 17 that a regional grouping of troops, made up of Belarusian and Russian servicemen, had begun to carry out tasks to protect the Union State.
Previously, the deployment and use of the forces and means of the two countries were practiced at various exercises.
The military commander said this at a meeting with the staff of the Minsk Tractor Plant. "The regional grouping of troops and forces is a complex organism of many components. It includes management bodies of various levels, troops, and forces, as well as various support systems – both Belarusian and Russian," he explained.
The mission of the newly formed unit is to prevent the outbreak of an armed conflict on the territory of Belarus. For this purpose, the experience gained during joint maneuvers over the past few years is used. They were conducted according to a scenario that assumes the emergence of a clear threat on the western borders of the Union State. It is supposed to be countered both by the simultaneous deployment of forces and means, and in stages, depending on the prevailing situation.
Khrenin expressed confidence that the joint group is able to ensure security along the entire perimeter of the Belarusian border. Its deployment is presented as a response to the actions of Western neighbors, while the Russian and Belarusian military solve purely defensive tasks. "In general, we believe that the strategic deterrence measures currently implemented and planned by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation provide a demonstration of readiness to defend our country and inflict unacceptable damage to the aggressor," Khrenin explained.
A week earlier, the President of the Republic of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko accused the West of planning aggression to the East and ordered the Defense Minister to receive and deploy Russian servicemen "in the near future ... and place them where necessary, according to our plan ... without going overboard, without escalating the situation and the situation." The number of new arrivals, by the standards of the Belarusian leader, is small, "but it will not be one thousand people."
The arrival of the first military echelons from Russia was reported on October 15. The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus explained that the relevant decision is being implemented solely in the interests of strengthening the protection and defense of the border of the Union State and is dictated by the ongoing activity in the border regions.
In a video posted on government websites, Deputy company commander Viktor Smeyan says: "The meeting was very warm, very pleasant. We have come to the Republic of Belarus to help the fraternal Belarusian people, we are ready to fulfill any tasks that we receive from the command. Everyone is in a fighting mood."
The decision to deploy a joint regional grouping of troops was made at a personal meeting between Lukashenka and Russian President Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg. The corresponding request to Moscow was submitted after Minsk received information from insiders about the alleged preparations by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) for an invasion of the neighboring republic. It was conducted by order of politicians in Kiev.
"Well, why else would they open a second front on our southern borders, they have on the northern ones? Well, why? This is madness from the point of view of the military. Nevertheless, the process has started. Their owners are pushing them to start a war against Belarus in order to get us involved there, to deal with both Russia and Belarus at the same time," Lukashenko said.
Since the second half of October, due to the threat from neighboring countries, a counter-terrorism operation regime has been introduced in the Republic of Belarus. "We must protect our people and make sure that the occupier does not set foot on a single meter of our land," Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei explained.
Minsk believes that it is useless to negotiate with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, since he is "not independent" and "everything depends on the United States and Great Britain." Instead of joining the negotiation process of Russia and Ukraine, the United States is intensively supplying the Armed Forces with modern weapons. For its part, Minsk supports Moscow during a special military operation. "Our support is to ensure that our western borders, in this case with Poland and Lithuania, are not violated and Russian troops are not stabbed in the back through Belarus. Initially, it was so," Lukashenko said.
