MINSK, 24 February (BelTA) – Belarusian army units carry out missions at the southern border on peacetime terms, BelTA learned from Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin after Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko held a conference with army officers on 24 February.
The defense minister remarked they had expected a bad outcome of the deteriorating situation in Ukraine's Donbass region. “This is why the commander-in-chief gave instructions to reinforce the coverage of the southern part of the state border. Battalions are carrying out missions on peace footing over there now. They have not been switched to war footing yet,” Viktor Khrenin said. He explained that all the Belarusian army units remain ready for combat in their permanent bases all the time.
“We make plans to respond to actions of our opponents particularly from the western border and the northwestern one,” the official continued. “We see military contingents over there, the same operations that have been going on since 2014-2016, forward presence has been reinforced.”
Viktor Khrenin pointed out: “There are over 8,000 American military personnel in Poland, the Baltic states already. The U.S. president has said that nearly 5,000 military personnel, troops of the second paratrooper division have been relocated to Poland already. Although we get assurances that the division is not that combat-ready and the personnel lack heavy weapons. We are military people and understand perfectly well that they have helicopters and armored vehicles. How can a paratrooper be unprepared? We see their infrastructure getting improved: airfields in Poland have been prepared according to NATO standards. We see warehouses for stockpiling materiel being set up. We see where vehicles are being parked in anticipation of personnel arrival.”
“We see all of it and analyze it. There are many indicators we are tracking and evaluating whether the situation will develop in a more critical way or not. And judging by these indicators, according to various scenarios we've considered, including time constraints, we make plans for the head of state to authorize. We have such plans, they include various stages. We will respond depending on the situation, according to what is going on,” the Belarusian defense minister said.
