Defense ministry says weapons drawn from warehouses for ongoing drills

April 14, BPN. The Belarusian defense ministry has completed receiving “mobilization resources” to check the combat readiness of the army, its press office reported.

On April 3, Alaksandr Łukašenka ordered a combat readiness check in the Belarusian Armed Forces. It takes place amid Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine, in which the Belarusian leadership supports the Kremlin, and amid Minsk’s increasingly belligerent rhetoric towards Western countries.

“One of the Western Operational Command units is being brought to combat readiness to carry out tasks as intended,” the ministry said. The mechanized unit has reportedly boosted its numbers to 6,000 servicemen and has been practicing “a full range of measures related to the transition of the unit from peacetime to wartime.”

Weapons as well as military and special equipment have been drawn from storage, the defense ministry said.

Separate units involved in combat training moved to designated areas, equipped their rear infrastructure, prepared weapons and military equipment for the performance of tasks and started combat coordination drills, the ministry noted.

The final stage will feature brigade-level tactical exercise to be overseen by Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin.

Earlier, the media reported that large numbers of reservists were called up for 35-day-long military training.

Belarusian officials in their recent statements have played up threats allegedly emanating from neighboring NATO countries and Ukraine.