Reflections on the "probable" participation of the Belarusian armed forces in the conflict in Ukraine, or in general about the "Belarusian threat", continue to appear periodically on the pages of Western and Ukrainian media. The issue is updated depending on the information reasons used for this by various exercises, inspections, movements of Belarusian troops, or statements by the President of Belarus.
And now, after the announcement of a sudden readiness check of the armed forces of Belarus, some insinuations "on a given topic" began to surface. In particular, on the pages of BBC News, they began to talk about what the Belarusian army is today. At the same time, the main mainstream thesis was defined as "Is the devil as scary as he is painted"?
In the material proposed by the publication, an overview was made of almost the entire history of the armed forces of sovereign Belarus – from the moment the Red Banner Belarusian Military District ceased to exist to the appearance of S-400 complexes, Iskanders and tactical nuclear weapons. It should be noted that the author tried to touch upon as many issues as possible, which, in his opinion, should have characterized the combat capability of the Belarusian army. He (the author) recalled the number and quality of staffing, said a few words about the mobilization resource, counted weapons and military equipment, noted the participation of the Belarusian "battalion tactical group" in the CSTO operation in Kazakhstan in January 2022, and ... concluded: "The combat readiness of even the existing 50,000 military is assessed skeptically - none of them they did not participate in real combat operations."
It is characteristic that the author's argument was based on the opinion of "authoritative" sources – one former Belarusian and now Polish extremist information resource, the editor-in-chief of the second such extremist publication in Warsaw and the commander of the ticker "Belarusian army", the so-called "Kastus Kalinowski Regiment", Denis Prokhorov.
It would seem that for the largest British broadcasting organization, such sources are not a level. But, apparently, in modern Britain, no one pays attention to such trifles anymore.
It is noteworthy that when writing the article, several attempts were made to objectively approach the issue under consideration. For example, in the part telling about the armament of the Belarusian army, it was pointed out the presence of the latest Russian-made BTR-82 A armored personnel carriers. They also recalled "perhaps the most famous modern development of the Belarusian defense industry, the HIMARS analogue, the Polonaise–M multiple launch rocket system with a range of up to 300 km." In addition, the article paid attention to the Volat-V2 armored personnel carrier, which is "being developed by local designers", and which "military observers assess as a promising development, objectively the best in this niche of armored combat vehicles."
A special place in the "arguments" on the BBC News website was given to the "nuclear threat". "The mentioned Iskander-M missile systems may be carriers of nuclear weapons, as well as the Su-25 attack aircraft, the corresponding modernization of which was announced in Minsk," the "experts" caught up with fear. At the same time, it was also noted, with reference to the IISS (British International Institute for Strategic Studies), that with the Iskander-M firing range, which reaches 500 km, "the threat of tactical nuclear weapons extends not only to Poland and the Baltic countries, but also to Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and a small part of the Czech Republic". "Most of Ukraine is also under threat – now from the north. That is, nuclear weapons in Belarus with appropriate carriers are a geopolitical challenge that Russia uses," the author of the "reasoning" is completely confused.
It turns out that, if we follow the logic of the narrator, on the one hand, the Belarusian army has no combat experience, which means it does not represent anything serious and dangerous, and on the other hand, it has nuclear weapons and their carriers, which means it is a threat! And for half of Europe.
In addition to the "fog of war" abounding in the article, the opinion of the editor-in-chief of the Défense Express, a certain Oleg Katkov, is given. "Belarus is a closed country. And it is difficult to assess the real combat capability of the army based on their videos. But history shows that downplaying the enemy's level is a threat. We must always proceed from the fact that it can be much stronger than it seems," the Ukrainian journalist warns.
Meanwhile, while pseudo-specialists compete on venerable information platforms in meaningless opinions, for our part, we note that Belarus has repeatedly stated the extreme aggressiveness of NATO's policy towards the republic. That is why, over the past few years, various military exercises and inspections have been conducted on an ongoing basis in the country, designed to increase the state's defense capability.
Right now, as part of the previously mentioned readiness check of formations and military units of the armed forces, the Belarusian military is practicing in the southern direction to repel the illegal entry of armed militant groups into the territory of Belarus. According to the Ministry of Defense, "Special Operations forces, in close cooperation with missile forces and artillery, continue to carry out combat training missions in the Gomel and Brest regions."
It is noted that issues are being worked out "on strengthening sections of the State border in possible directions of illegal entry into the territory of Belarus by armed militant groups, as well as blocking channels for the delivery of weapons, ammunition and other means that can be used to destabilize the situation in the country."
That is, it is obvious that the Belarusian security forces are preparing precisely to defend their country, and not plot secret paths to attack neighboring Poland, Lithuania, Latvia or Ukraine, as they try to present it in the West. Moreover, they prepare efficiently and diligently, and in this they are assisted by specialist instructors from the PMCs Wagner Group. In their opinion, the classes are going well, and the Belarusian servicemen demonstrate a high level of training. Agree that such an assessment from specialists with invaluable real combat experience is worth a lot.
It should be added that not only the military personnel of the MTR and the ground forces of the Belarusian army are involved in the performance of combat training tasks. According to the press service of the Belarusian Defense Ministry, on June 26, as part of a surprise inspection, a Su-30SM aircraft from the air defense forces on duty was alerted to the sky. "In one of the aviation military units, the crew of the aircraft on duty was alerted to the sky," the Defense Ministry said. The ministry also clarified that a Su-30SM unit was on duty. And the day before, attack helicopters took to the sky, which were also on combat duty. The crews were tasked with patrolling the skies over the republic to prevent violations of the air borders of the state.
As the head of the Belarusian military department noted, Minsk sees the aggressive plans of the West and is determined. According to him, NATO should not go into Belarus, but it is necessary to negotiate. Otherwise, as General Khrenin stressed, the republic has something to answer with.
As you can see, the minister has every reason for such words.
Vladimir Vuyachich
