{"id":11486,"date":"2022-10-19T10:42:39","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T07:42:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/api.pozirk.online\/longreads\/minsks-rhetoric-more-aggressive-as-defense-ministry-warns-of-preventive-strikes\/"},"modified":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T20:29:13","slug":"minsks-rhetoric-more-aggressive-as-defense-ministry-warns-of-preventive-strikes","status":"publish","type":"longreads","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/longreads\/11486\/","title":{"rendered":"Minsk\u2019s rhetoric more aggressive as defense ministry warns of preventive strikes"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n <span>By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t * Reposting prohibited\n<\/p>\n<p>\n <span>Belarusian officials and generals have accused neighboring countries of planning an attack on Belarus, warning of possible preventive strikes. Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka seems to assume that Vladimir Putin may go much farther in his military campaign.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cWe reserve the right to take a set of preventive measures of strategic deterrence to prevent an attack or neutralize an internal armed conflict,\u201d Valery Ravienka, chief of the defense ministry\u2019s International Cooperation Department, told foreign military attaches on October 17.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t He expressed concern about Poland\u2019s build-up and Kyiv\u2019s support for Belarusian armed groups, including the Kalino\u016dski Regiment.\n<\/p>\n<h2>\u201cI will show you\u201d from where they planned to attack us<\/h2>\n<p>\n\t The besieged fortress rhetoric is not new. Belarusian officials pretend to be surprised by Ukraine\u2019s effort to beef up border security after February\u2019s failed Russian offensive on Kyiv. They pretend to have no idea why Poland and Lithuania improve their defenses and ask NATO for support, just as they pretend not to see the Kremlin\u2019s aggressive policy. Obviously, the neighbors have valid reasons to be concerned and prepare to respond to possible attacks from Russia. But Minsk interprets their concerns as war mongering.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Whereas a few days ago officials stressed that Belarus had no plans to attack Ukraine and was ready to defend itself, Ravienka has indicated that Minsk can launch preventive strikes.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Paradoxically, Minsk has cast the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine as a defensive preventive operation.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cThey started it,\u201d \u0141uka\u0161enka claimed at a meeting with Putin in Moscow on March 11. \u201cI will show you right now from where they were preparing to attack Belarus. If we had not launched the preventive strike on their positions six hours before the operation \u2013 the four positions I am showing you now, I\u2019ve brought the map \u2013 they would attack our troops, of Belarus and Russia, which were there at exercises.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t \u201cThat is why it was not we who started this war. Our conscience is clear,\u201d he claimed. \u201cIt was good that we started it. Biological weapons, the largest nuclear plants . . . They were ready to blow it all up.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The Belarusian ruler seems to be aware of a possible escalation of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. He does not know and maybe he already knows what Putin is expecting of him.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Earlier this month, the two leaders agreed to deploy a regional group of forces to Belarus.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t The move might be just an attempt to distract Kyiv or might be part of preparations for a new attack on Ukraine from Belarus.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Moreover, Moscow might be preparing for a regional conflict, a direct engagement with NATO. It might consider a strike on what it sees as the alliance\u2019s weakness, the Suwa\u0142ki gap.\n<\/p>\n<h2>Hundred fighters too many for 70,000-strong&nbsp;army<\/h2>\n<p>\n\t What strikes the eye is Minsk\u2019s grave concern about the opposition\u2019s alleged plan to use armed groups against the \u0141uka\u0161enka government in Belarus. Those emphasizing the threat include \u0141uka\u0161enka, Security Council Secretary Alaksandr Valfovi\u010d, Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin, KGB Chairman Ivan Tertel and Ravienka.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Tertel visited the Minsk Tractor Plant on October 17 to inform workers of high risks of invasion of Belarus. He said that several hundred Belarusian militants are waiting in Ukraine for a chance to attack Belarus, and added that Poland hosted about 80 militants and Lithuania, about 60.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t He said that if Russia is defeated, a group of 100 to 300 armed militants is expected to enter Belarus near the town of Malaryta and take a town or a district center. \u201cThen the hirelings from other countries will join in under the pretext of volunteers from Ukraine. Inflicting losses on our law enforcers, they will be heading for Minsk,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Interestingly, the KGB chief does not rule out that Russia may lose the war. Surprisingly, he assumes that a few hundred of militants can advance as far as Minsk. A few days earlier, \u0141uka\u0161enka boasted of his 70,000-strong army at a gathering in Astana.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t Despite brutally suppressing unrest that followed \u0141uka\u0161enka\u2019s 2020 disputed re-election, officials still seem to doubt that they have done enough to cement their power.\n<\/p>\n<p>\n\t &nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reposting prohibited Belarusian officials and generals have accused neighboring countries of planning an attack on Belarus, warning of possible preventive strikes. Alaksandr \u0141uka\u0161enka seems to assume that Vladimir Putin may go much farther in his military campaign. \u201cWe reserve the right to take a set of preventive measures of strategic [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":75,"featured_media":0,"template":"","rubric":[24],"class_list":["post-11486","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>Minsk\u2019s rhetoric more aggressive as defense ministry warns of preventive strikes | Pozirk<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"By Alaksandr K\u0142asko\u016dski, BPN * Reposting prohibited Belarusian officials and generals have accused neighboring countries of planning an attack on Belarus,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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