A large-scale inspection of the combat readiness of Belarus’s armed forces has been under way since Jan. 16, ordered on an emergency basis by President Alexander Lukashenko. On Jan. 26 he said the checks would continue until spring.
That day, Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said the military had also launched its own inspection of units and formations. He described the review planned by the Defense Ministry and General Staff and the one ordered by Lukashenko as parallel and independent.
The campaign has expanded in recent weeks. On Feb. 21 the Defense Ministry said forces of the Western Operational Command had been placed on combat readiness. The ministry reported that the day after a coordination meeting, commanders checked readiness to carry out missions, and events with reservists were held in the garrison in Grodno.
In parallel, thousands of reservists in western Belarus have been called up on an immediate basis. Residents described receiving summonses suddenly, including people with three children, and being ordered to report the same day.
One woman wrote on social media that her husband, apparently working on a draft board, processed 1,500 people from Grodno in one day before reservists were sent on to other locations. A local resident said calling up 4,000–5,000 people a day “is hard to consider something ordinary or routine”.
Independent media said the call-ups are being conducted in violation of the law, which requires reservists to receive seven days’ notice and normally exempts people with three children.
“They brought it to us at 9 p.m. on the 16th, but we were supposed to report in the morning of the 17th,” a woman named Irina wrote on Threads, according to the Belarusian portal Zerkalo.io.
Pavel Latushka, deputy head of the opposition United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus, told Ukrainian channel Kyiv24 that the pace and method of calling up troops differ from previous reservist training campaigns. He said the measures are being carried out under the pretext of a sudden readiness inspection but in practice amount to “hidden mobilization”.
According to Latushka, social and medical deferments are reportedly being ignored and those called up are immediately transferred to military units.
On Sunday the pro-government War TV channel said reservists assigned to units of the Western Operational Command had taken the military oath during the comprehensive readiness checks, without giving numbers.
Lukashenko was briefed on Feb. 18 by Security Council secretary Alexander Wolfovich on the progress of the inspection, state outlet BelTA reported. Wolfovich said the second phase had ended, covering combat readiness checks for most units across almost all branches of the armed forces, including special forces.
The drills, focused on weapons handling and physical training, have been held at training grounds and are continuing, officials said. The Defense Ministry in Minsk cited ongoing exercises involving artillery, military intelligence cadets, special forces, air defense missile units and electronic warfare troops, including night shooting and live-fire training.
A meeting of the Supreme State Council of the Union State of Russia and Belarus is scheduled for Feb. 26 in Moscow, where Lukashenko is due to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin. The two leaders spoke by phone on Feb. 19 and previously on Feb. 8, and Lukashenko also held talks with Union State secretary Sergei Glazyev.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Wednesday signed a decree imposing sanctions on Lukashenko. He said Belarus is hosting the Oreshnik complex, that 3,000 plants are assisting Russia’s military industry, and that relay stations deployed in Belarus in the second half of last year are helping Russia more effectively attack Ukrainian cities with drones.
A visit to Kyiv by “President of Free Belarus” Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya and her team is expected soon, after an invitation from Zelenskiy that he conveyed during a recent meeting in Vilnius.
(jh)
Source: Polish Radio