{"id":11327,"date":"2022-01-10T19:33:41","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T16:33:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/deeper-military-ties-with-moscow-seen-as-risk-for-belarus-independence\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"deeper-military-ties-with-moscow-seen-as-risk-for-belarus-independence","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11327\/","title":{"rendered":"Deeper military ties with Moscow seen as risk for Belarus\u2019 independence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <span>By Aliaksandr Aliesin<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n <b>Political isolation and Western sanctions have forced Minsk to strengthen economic and other ties with Russia. Dependence has limited the Belarusian government\u2019s room for maneuver. <\/b>\n<\/p>\n<p> <b> <\/b><\/p>\n<p>\n\t During their meeting in Saint Petersburg on December 29, Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka and Vladimir Putin discussed a plan for a joint military exercise in Belarus in February or March 2022.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Belarusian leader suggested that the two countries should continue conducting regular exercises and establish more centers for training Belarusian troops to operate Russian-made equipment.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Belarus may set up new operational and tactical command center<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Some commentators noted that Belarusian and Russian troops might hold the exercise in southern Belarus to practice movements or troops and equipment to protect the Belarusian-Ukrainian border.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The maneuvers might be part of preparations for establishing a southeastern operational and tactical command for Belarus\u2019 land forces in response to souring relations between Minsk and Kyiv, commentators said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Belarus might ask Russia to supply a second S-400 surface-to-air system to equip a new training center to be based near Homiel. The system would be used to protect airspace in southern Belarus, observers said. Russia has already provided an S-400 system for a training center located near Hrodna.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The move would unsettle Ukraine, but Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka seems to create tension deliberately in order to make himself indispensable to Moscow and exact concessions from the Kremlin.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Russian planes patrolling skies over Belarus<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Belarusian and Russian pilots flew Sukhoi Su-30SM multirole fighters over Belarus in early January as part of this year\u2019s first joint patrol mission, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense said on January 5.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Russia is expected to deliver another batch of Su-30SM fighters this year, as well as Mi-8 and Mi-35M helicopters, BTR-82A armored personnel carriers, T-72BZ main battle tanks and Tor-M2K anti-aircraft missile systems.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Volga and Antei to be upgraded<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t The defense ministers of Belarus and Russia signed 25-year lease extensions for Russia\u2019s Volga early warning radar station in Hancavi\u010dy, Brest region, and Antei submarine communication station in Viliejka, Minsk region.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The lease extensions are seen as the green light for the upgrade of the two facilities, commentators note. Improvements have been delayed until recently because of uncertainty over the leases.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Volga radar is part of the missile defense system protecting Moscow, the Moscow region and neighboring districts in central Russia. It monitors Western Europe and the patrol areas of NATO submarines in the North Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Russia sees it as an important element of its missile attack early warning system in view of the US plans to site missile defense elements in Europe, said Andrey Revenok, chief of the Main Missile Attack Early Warning Center of the Russian Space Forces, a few years ago.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The station was originally designed not only to track missiles but also to designate targets for interceptors. However, the latter function was disabled under the 1972 anti-ballistic missile treaty.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Now that the United States has withdrawn from the ABM and the intermediate-range nuclear forces treaties and is building a site for missile interceptors in Poland, Russia might enable that target designation function.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Vileyka VLF transmitter is the site of the 43rd Communications Center of the Russian Navy, located west of the town of Viliejka. The Antei transmitter is an important facility for transmitting orders to submarines in the very low frequency range. It is also used for transmitting the RJH69 time signal. It may be used for transmitting commands for ballistic missile launches.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Antei station also hosts electronic intelligence and warfare equipment. Observers speculate that Russia may install a state-of-the-art Samarkand electronic warfare system there to be able to suppress all electronic transmitters in NATO countries.\n<\/p>\n<h2> <span>Luka\u0161enka cedes ground to Kremlin<\/span> <\/h2>\n<p>\n\t Belarus may host more Russian facilities in the next few years. The government\u2019s move to remove the clause on the country\u2019s aspiration for nuclear-free status from the constitution may pave the way for the return of Russian nuclear weapons. The Belarusian leader has already declared his readiness to host Russian nuclear missiles.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Russia is unlikely to deploy the Iskander-M mobile short-range missile systems to Belarus in 2022 because it may take long to sort out legal formalities. However, it may start building operational bases and patrol routes.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t In a new sign of Belarus\u2019 dependence on Moscow, Minsk sent a company of the 103rd Airborne Brigade to Kazakhstan earlier this month to take part in a peace-keeping mission of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). The Belarusian troops were transported by Russian military transport planes.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka has been open to all defense-related proposals from Moscow in the last 12 months, whereas before he was cautious to make substantial concessions and was more independent in his decision-making.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Political isolation and economic sanctions have made him more accommodating and servile, and readier to sacrifice his country\u2019s key interests.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Aliaksandr Aliesin Political isolation and Western sanctions have forced Minsk to strengthen economic and other ties with Russia. Dependence has limited the Belarusian government\u2019s room for maneuver. During their meeting in Saint Petersburg on December 29, Aliaksandr Luka\u0161enka and Vladimir Putin discussed a plan for a joint military exercise in Belarus in February or [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-11327","longreads","type-longreads","status-publish","hentry","rubric-theviewer"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Deeper military ties with Moscow seen as risk for Belarus\u2019 independence | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Aliaksandr Aliesin Political isolation and Western sanctions have forced Minsk to strengthen economic and other ties with Russia. 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