Belarus’s President Alexander Lukashenko has announced a rotational mobilization of selected military units “in order to prepare them for war.”
The Belarusian president said the new approach was in preparation for a possible “ground operation,” state news agency Belta reported on May 12. “We will selectively mobilize units, the armed forces, in order to prepare them for war,” Lukashenko said. “God willing, it will be possible to avoid it. We are all preparing for war.”
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The strategy marks a move away from periodic large-scale drills and will involve units being called up in turns for intensive combat training camps, Belta said.
The move followed combat-readiness inspections of the country’s armed forces, after which a “serious discussion” was held at the defense ministry to discuss the shortcomings revealed, Lukashenko said.
Combat readiness
The inspections form part of an increased emphasis by Minsk on the country’s preparedness for conflict, with Lukashenko saying on Monday that the armed forces must be modernized.
In April, the Belarusian head of state issued a decree calling up reserve officers, having in March launched conscription for compulsory military service of men aged 18–27.
Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said in April that Russia sought to draw Belarus into its war against Ukraine and that roads and artillery positions had been prepared near the two countries’ border.
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