A month ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered to sign an agreement with Belarus on the establishment of joint military training centers. The corresponding decree of the Russian president dated January 31 was published on the legal information portal.
It would seem that an ordinary event in a series of similar ones from the field of military integration of two subjects of the Union State. Moreover, the beginning of this process was laid back in 2021. But for some reason, right now some experts of the "bechebash" color are overexcited. Some of them claim that Russian military bases are appearing in Belarus under the guise of training centers. Others refer to the text of the Agreement, in which, in their opinion, "the tasks and goals of these centers are very broadly spelled out." And this allows them to assert that "under the guise of training and combat centers, in fact, joint groups of troops can be created or the military presence of Russians on the Belarusian territory can be increased, which is not directly related to exclusively combat training."
Analysts also wonder which centers are referred to in this Agreement, those that have already been created or some others? After all, two years ago, the defense ministers of Russia and Belarus, having announced for the first time in March 2021 the creation of combat training centers for the joint training of the armed forces of both countries, agreed that a total of 3 such centers would appear - one would be located in the Grodno region, and two would be formed in Russia. And in October 2021, the head of the Belarusian military department, General Khrenin, said that one joint training combat center had already been established and was functioning in Belarus. In turn, Russian Defense Minister General of the Army Sergei Shoigu mentioned at the same time that two training centers would appear in Belarus. This happened after Russian anti-aircraft missile units arrived in the Grodno region in August 2021, and in September 2021 Su-30SM aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces landed at the airfield in Baranovichi.
Let's try to understand this "fog of war".
We will immediately calm down the "expert community" and answer the first question. Only three centers have been formed, as agreed by the defense ministers. There is one on the territory of Belarus so far. Confusion could arise because of his specialization – "training of specialists of the Air Force and Air Defense forces." That is, based on the definition itself, the structure of the center contains at least two components – the Air Force and air defense. Obviously, for the training of aviation specialists, a military airfield is needed and preferably a higher class. Just such a one is located in Baranovichi, where Russian planes arrived at one time. In turn, the anti-aircraft missile units of the air defense forces armed with the S-400 air defense system, as planned, were placed in the Grodno region, where the Belarusian S-300 complexes have been deployed for a long time, which means that all the necessary infrastructure is available. Geographically separated structures can be considered as two separate formations, especially considering their specifics, but in fact they are two divisions of the same center. The number was sorted out.
Why are the centers already functioning, and the documents are being processed only now?
Naturally, without documented agreements and decisions, nothing would have arisen out of the blue, especially in the military sphere. Therefore, the creation of the centers took place on the basis of an agreement between the Ministries of Defense of Belarus and Russia, signed in March 2021. Currently, the focus is on the interstate agreement, which has a higher status than the previously signed interdepartmental one. An interdepartmental agreement cannot amend national legislation and regulate relevant issues requiring solutions at the State level. In other words, the leaders of Russia and Belarus are laying down more opportunities for free maneuver in the field of military cooperation and in the interests of creating a single defense space.
Currently, this is a very relevant topic, especially given the ongoing buildup of NATO and US forces in the territories of neighboring countries, near the borders of the Union State. In addition, one should also take into account the fact that the United States, feeling the rapid decrease in the number of military personnel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is actively looking for a replacement among its Eastern European vassals and provokes Belarus to drag it into the conflict.
Here it should be recalled that among the tasks of the joint training center already operating on the territory of Belarus, along with combat duty, there is "the performance of training and combat tasks". It is also designed to "sober up" the heads of the Polish and Baltic satellites of the United States in time, as, indeed, the regional grouping of the troops of the Union State deployed in Belarus.
Vladimir Vuyachich
