In Belarus – sudden military training. Is there a secret mobilization going on?
The next check on the combat readiness of the Armed Forces of Belarus became known on April 3. The Ministry of Defense press office informed that during the inspection, restrictions are being introduced on the circulation of civilian vehicles on public roads. The news took even local authorities by surprise, who were not warned about the large-scale movement of military equipment.
The army is training for the transition “from peacetime to wartime”
State Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus, Alexander Volfovich, said that “the inspection will include a full range of measures related to the transfer of training from peacetime to wartime, recruitment of persons responsible for military service, provision of weapons, the release of formation to training camps to perform tasks for the purpose for which it was intended.”
How long the check will take, authorities did not say. Alexander Volfovich only hinted that it would be long-term and would affect several military training camps in Belarus. At the same time, the Ministry of Defense emphasizes that the main purpose of the sudden check is to determine the ability of the Belarusian army to carry out its tasks “in a rapidly changing environment.”
The reservists summoned to the training camp are promised the provision of everything necessary for living in the field, as well as distribution by military specialties, taking into account previous service in the army. The Ministry of Defense also said in a statement that those responsible for the military service will have to update their skills in handling weapons and military equipment, and undergo combat coordination. Apparently, the final step for those called up for the internship should be participation in tactical exercises.
“Give up fees – there will be problems at work”
The readiness check mainly affects the Brest and Grodno regions, bordering the EU countries and Ukraine. In addition, for some men who received a call-up to the current training camp, this call-up campaign has already become a regular one.
“My husband was ‘taken to the partisans’ for the third time in the last two years”, says Anastasia from Brest (name changed at caller’s request – Ed.). “Once he served in the artillery, he was persuaded to remain in the army under contract and now, as I understand it, this specialty is in great demand among the troops.”
In recent years, it was possible to prepare in advance for being called to the training camp, but this time everything happened quickly, Anastasia says: I did not expect it, and when I appeared at the military enlistment office, they immediately announced that I would go to military unit to participate in combat readiness verification.”
Anastasia’s husband managed to call home, and she was able to take the necessary things for the first time to the collection point of those responsible for the military service. But another resident of Brest could not do this. “The call takes place in a kind of emergency mode and is more like a mobilization: they called the intercom, the husband opened the door and signed the agenda. They told them to go to the athletics arena, where there was a meeting point, and from there they put about 400 people on buses and drove them towards Slonim”, says the DW interlocutor. The husband, according to the woman, tried to refuse to participate in sudden meetings, but representatives of the military registration and enlistment office said that in this case the “refusenik” would face problems at the place of his main work.
Military registration and enlistment offices refute rumors of secret mobilization
Similar stories are happening in other cities in the Brest region. In the regional center of Ivanovo, the gymnasium of one of the local schools was adapted as a temporary mobilization point, and in Baranovichi, a summons was handed over to an employee of a private company at the workplace: the company’s management was confronted with the fact that they would not need to rely on this employee in the near future.
The military commissar of the Brest region, Oleg Konovalov, commenting on these facts to state media, refutes rumors that a secret mobilization is being carried out under the pretext of combat readiness checks. Oleg Konovalov explains the need for training itself by the fact that equipment is being updated in the army, and those who served 5-10 years ago need to be trained in new types of weapons.
It is worth noting that even doctors and journalists were among those urgently summoned to check the “combat readiness” according to their profile. An employee of one of the state newspapers said that during the training camp, his job would be to issue informative “battle sheets”.
Exercises in Belarus – taking into account the war in Ukraine
The matter is not limited to large-scale recruitment activities in the Belarusian army. In parallel with the announced collection of reservists, the Ministry of Defense announced the sending of a group of servicemen to Russia. In the Russian Federation, they will have to acquire skills in the practical use of the Iskander-M missile system, which has already been put into service in the Republic of Belarus and can use tactical nuclear weapons.
In addition, another wave of exercises of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces anti-aircraft missile regiment is taking place in Belarus at the Brestsky training ground. The landfill itself is located very close to the Polish border and not far from the Ukrainian border. The official version of such exercises is the performance of tasks “in conditions of constant active electronic interference, impact of sabotage and reconnaissance groups and the use of unmanned aerial vehicles.”
One of the officers familiar with the exercise told DW on condition of anonymity that the Russian army’s experience in the war against Ukraine is widely taken into account in training servicemen.
Combat shooting lessons are held regularly at the 38th Airborne Assault Brigade, also stationed in Brest. In this case, emphasis is also placed on the experience of Russian military operations in Ukraine, including capturing settlements and advancing units into foreign territory.
Source: DW
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