{"id":202353,"date":"2026-09-03T17:36:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-03T14:36:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/202353\/"},"modified":"2026-09-03T17:36:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-03T14:36:53","slug":"internal-troops-trained-to-rebuff-suv-attack-at-the-border","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/202353\/","title":{"rendered":"Internal troops trained to rebuff SUV attack at the border"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

September 3,<\/strong> Pozirk.<\/strong><\/em> The scenario of an ongoing exercise in northern Belarus pits a special-task police brigade against mock criminals attempting to cross the state border into Belarus in all-terrain vehicles, according to Internal Troops Commander Mika\u0142aj Karpianko\u016d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In particular, the 7th Separate Special Internal Troops Police Brigade in Viciebsk is expected to confront a group driving two unmarked SUVs, Karpianko\u016d said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another operation, which will take place in the cities of Lozna and Dubro\u016dna, the Vicia\u017a and Ry\u015b special-task units will search for two unidentified individuals who left objects on railroad tracks and fled with rucksacks on their backs. The units will comb the area using drones.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On September 2, State Secretary of the Security Council Alaksandar Valfovi\u010d, acting on instructions from Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka, handed Interior Minister Ivan Kubrako\u016d a formal order to put the Viciebsk-based brigade on combat alert for the exercise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The drill will reportedly test the brigade\u2019s combat readiness in simulated combat conditions, drawing on lessons learned from modern conflicts, including the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMilitants on SUVs\u201d have repeatedly been invoked by propaganda to justify repression against political opponents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March 2017, state media reported that a Jeep loaded with explosives had tried to break through the Belarusian border from Ukraine, only to be stopped by border guards. Two people were allegedly arrested and charged, but there was no follow-up to the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The incident was reported amid widespread protests against a tax on unemployed people, as authorities went out of their way to discredit participants. At the height of the unrest, the regime opened the so-called White Legion case, portraying members of a defunct organization as bloodthirsty guerrillas, only to release them later without charges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 2021, state media claimed that Alaksandar Fiaduta, Juryj Ziankovi\u010d and Ryhor Kastusio\u016d, who were arrested over an alleged conspiracy to seize power, had been plotting a cross-border raid in which 150 SUVs armed with heavy machine guns were supposedly to storm into Belarusian territory from Lithuania and \u201cshoot the president dead.\u201d \u0141uka\u0161enka claimed that US intelligence agencies had been involved in planning his assassination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Internal troops were heavily involved in suppressing mass protests against electoral fraud in 2020 and had previously been used to disperse peaceful street demonstrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since late 2022, the Internal Troops have set up new special-task units trained with the help of mercenaries linked to Russia\u2019s Wagner Group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian army has been conducting exercises more frequently amid heightened tensions with the West and Russia\u2019s full-scale war against Ukraine, in which Minsk supports Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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