The decision to strengthen the western border of Belarus against the backdrop of NATO's aggressive plans was the right one.
This was stated by the President of the Republic Alexander Lukashenko.
“The modern fascists of the NATO countries have not disappeared, they have not died, they are planning to strike through Ukraine and Belarus.
Therefore, perhaps even somewhat intuitively, I understood this back in February and ordered the Minister of Defense, the Chief of the General Staff to develop an operation and completely close the western border.
Although, it would seem, the threat was on the southern border, ”Lukashenko said at a ceremony honoring graduates of military universities and senior officers.
The President of Belarus stressed that the choice of this strategy is fully justified by the events of the past few months.
In addition, the Belarusian leader added, the West is developing strategic plans to attack Russia.
“Recently – and we discussed this in detail yesterday with the President of the Russian Federation – strategic plans for an attack on Russia have been developed.
And the main direction of the strike — history repeats itself — through Ukraine and through Belarus,” Alexander Lukashenko said.
Recall that in March, the State Border Committee of Belarus reported that against the backdrop of a Russian special operation taking place in Ukraine, it strengthened the protection of the western and southern borders.
Mechanized units, artillery battalions and servicemen of an anti-aircraft missile regiment are on duty in the western direction together with the border service.
The most important partner
After the start of the military operation of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, Moscow repeatedly emphasized the importance of military cooperation with Belarus.
So, the head of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, at the end of June, at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin, said that the republic is the most important strategic partner for the Russian Federation.
“The Republic of Belarus is our most important strategic partner, closest friend and ally.
Today, bilateral military cooperation is developing under the conditions of unprecedented pressure from the West, an undeclared war against our countries,” the head of the Russian defense department stressed.
Sergei Shoigu noted that Russia highly appreciates the determination of Minsk to oppose the confrontational course of the United States and its allies and the readiness to form a single defense space within the framework of the Union State.
The minister stressed that in the current situation, the issue of taking urgent measures to strengthen the defense capability of the Union State is becoming especially relevant.
“Circumstances dictate the need to take urgent joint measures to strengthen the defense capability of the Union State, increase the combat readiness of the regional grouping of troops (forces) and the unified regional air defense system,” the head of the RF Defense Ministry emphasized.
Shoigu noted that the Russian side is ready to provide "any support to Belarusian friends" on this issue.
Shortly after the meeting of the heads of the defense departments of the Russian Federation and Belarus, President Vladimir Putin, at negotiations with Alexander Lukashenko, announced that in the near future Russia would transfer the Iskander-M complexes to the ally.
“As we agreed, you raised the issue, we have made a decision.
In the coming months, we will transfer to Belarus the Iskander-M tactical missile systems, which, as you know, can use both ballistic and cruise missiles, both in conventional and nuclear versions, ”the Russian leader emphasized.
As part of this meeting, Alexander Lukashenko drew attention to training flights near the borders of the republic of NATO aircraft that can carry nuclear weapons.
The President of Belarus asked to consider the possibility of responding to such actions or to help modify Belarusian aircraft for similar tasks.
Belarusian military
RIA News
© Victor Tolochko
In response, Vladimir Putin recalled that the Belarusian Armed Forces are armed with a large group of Su-25 attack aircraft.
“They could be upgraded accordingly.
True, this modernization should be carried out at aircraft factories in Russia, but we will agree with you when to do this and start training the flight personnel accordingly, ”the President of the Russian Federation noted.
single space
Recall that since 2021, the presidents of Russia and Belarus have been discussing the formation of a single defense space within the framework of the Union State.
In September last year, Vladimir Putin noted that in the context of building a single defense space and ensuring the security of the Union State, the Zapad-2021 exercises, which were then held at 14 training grounds in Russia, Belarus and in the Baltic Sea, are of great importance.
In November 2021, the Supreme State Council of the Union State approved a new military doctrine, which provides for the strengthening of the regional grouping of troops.
State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev then noted that the document was adopted in connection with the change in the military-political situation in the region and the emergence of new challenges and threats for Russia and Belarus.
Belarusian military
RIA News
© Alexey Kudenko
“The new military doctrine will make it possible to increase the level of coordination of defense policy, to adapt the tasks of the defense ministries in a timely manner, taking into account changes in the military-political situation in the region,” Mezentsev emphasized.
Alexander Lukashenko's statements about the threat to Belarus are directly confirmed by military documents captured from Ukrainian forces, military expert Alexei Leonkov said in an interview with RT.
“Belarus was also mentioned there.
It is no coincidence that among the militants who are now fighting on the line of contact, there are Belarusian mercenaries, combat detachments, which included all the radical elements from the territory of Belarus, who tried to shake power back in 2020.
The specialized Belarusian national battalion was organized for a reason.
It is clear that it was intended to conduct hostilities on the territory of Belarus in order to overthrow the legitimate government and with all the ensuing consequences, ”the expert noted.
A special operation in Ukraine thwarted these plans, and now these militants are fighting in the Donbass, where they are being destroyed by Russian forces, Alexey Leonkov noted.
“Therefore, on the basis of this data, which we share with our allied state through military-technical cooperation, Alexander Grigoryevich draws the right conclusions.
These militants could become very dangerous for the state.
The collective West, during the events of 2020 in Minsk, hinted that it was ready to send troops if the conspirators managed to seize power.
NATO forces would immediately enter the territory of Belarus as support, ”the military expert emphasized.
A similar position in an interview with RT was expressed by the leading expert of the RISS Research Coordination Center Sergey Ermakov.
“The President of Belarus correctly assesses the situation.
The military-political situation has become very complicated lately, also because of the aggressive policy of the United States and its NATO allies.
Therefore, the geographical position of Belarus makes it very carefully assess the extent of these threats.
Considering that Russia and Belarus are partner and allied states, all these Western aggressive actions are automatically projected onto the Belarusian side, ”the political scientist explained.
The fact that Belarus has recently been paying more attention to building its own defense in alliance with the Russian Federation is a confirmation of the correctness of the course chosen by Alexander Lukashenko, Sergey Yermakov believes.
“Within the framework of military science, it is difficult to talk about some kind of absolute security.
But we can talk about the likelihood of threats, and this probability is really high.
However, cooperation between the Russian Federation and Belarus now makes it possible to provide adequate protection against such hypothetical external threats, ”the expert concluded.