MINSK, 1 December (BelTA) – A training center in Belarus already has air defense missile systems S-400. Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko made the relevant statement in an interview with Dmitry Kiselyov, Director General of the Russian state news agency MIA Rossiya Segodnya, BelTA has learned.
Aleksandr Lukashenko said: “We've set up a center and are training personnel. Russia has supplied S-400 systems to this center. We need one for studies. Training is already in progress.”
Asked to clarify, he noted that it is not a dummy model but combat-effective hardware.
“So, does Belarus have S-400 systems now?” Dmitry Kiselyov asked Aleksandr Lukashenko.
The president said: “Yes. We train our guys in this training center. I'd like to ask the president [of Russia] to leave this system here.”
During the interview Aleksandr Lukashenko also noted that Belarus needs S-400 and S-500 air defense missile systems for the sake of effective defense against a missile attack. He said: “You understand that S-400 and S-500 are expensive systems. And sincerely speaking, Russia has no systems to spare now. They have something they have to defend. Our air defense systems fully cover our borders, Minsk, and so on at present. But in order to enable effective defense against a missile attack, we need S-400 systems and maybe S-500 systems,” he said.
