August 26, Pozirk. The Minsk region is hosting two parallel drills in which police and emergency management units are learning to defend industrial sites against “destructive forces” and investigators are teaming up with rapid response police in a simulated operation against an attacking enemy.
Speaking during an anti-riot “command staff exercise” on August 26, Interior Minister Ivan Kubrakoŭ warned, according to the ministry’s newspaper Na Strazhe, that the Minsk region is home to many major enterprises and other organizations that could become a target for “destructive forces.”
Kubrakoŭ emphasized the importance of coordination across the entire security apparatus and the role of emergency personnel’s special-purpose equipment. He noted that top police officials, including generals, would soon be subjected to physical fitness tests.
According to the Investigative Committee’s press office, the other drill, taking place on a training ground in the village of Vałoŭščyna near Minsk, involves simulated combat scenarios, including repelling attacks, securing enemy positions, neutralizing criminals and conducting follow-up investigative procedures.
During a drill conducted in Mahiloŭ on May 27, Ivan Kubrakoŭ said that police were being trained to prevent a repeat of the 2020 protests, a reference to the massive peaceful demonstrations against alleged fraud in the presidential election.
Kubrakoŭ stressed that police officers should not hesitate to use firearms “if someone is trying to commit mayhem” against security forces deployed to suppress riots.
Police conducted exercises in Viciebsk on April 23 and 24, in Baranavičy, Brest region, on June 4, in Viciebsk and Rečyca, Homiel region, on June 23 and 24, in Słonim on July 7, in Hrodna, Lida and Vialikaja Bierastavica on July 29 and 30, in the Minsk region on August 11, and in the Viciebsk region on August 18 to hone their skills in suppressing street protests.
Although the 2020 post-election protests were largely peaceful, police used brutal force to disperse them and arrest participants. Several protesters were killed, but their deaths have not been investigated.
