Performance of Belarusian army units during snap inspection praised

MINSK, 22 December (BelTA) – After Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko held a conference on 22 December to review results of an inspection of the country's defense, security, and law enforcement agencies State Secretary of the Security Council Aleksandr Volfovich talked to reporters and explained how Belarusian army units carried out their missions, BelTA has learned.

Aleksandr Volfovich clarified that they had not intended to test the readiness of army units, security agencies in bad weather. “But all the factors contributed to it. Weather conditions were indeed terrible: snow, icy roads, frost,” he said.

Army engineers had to accomplish very difficult missions, Aleksandr Volfovich pointed out. They had to build two pontoon bridges over the Neman River and the Berezina River. If they had failed to do it on time, army units could not have arrived in designated positions. In his words, the army engineers had to build the pontoon bridges in most difficult circumstances. Vehicles safely crossed the rivers and reached designated areas on time in order to later on get on with tactical tasks and shooting practice.

Aleksandr Volfovich clarified that the snap inspection had demonstrated that Belarus' state response system works smoothly and army units had accomplished their assigned missions. However, one should not be self-complacent, the official noted. This is why problems were analyzed in detail during the conference hosted by the head of state and the president gave strict instructions as a result.

The state secretary said: “People in uniform must never relax. Today in view of the situation near our borders and judging from actions of our neighbors with regard to militarization, taking into account their aggressive plans and expansionist thoughts, we have to prepare our forces to be able to come out and do their job at any time. Primarily to ensure the security of our country and the nation. It was what the president was interested in today. He gave concrete instructions on what needs to be adjusted and improved. Most importantly, we have everything for it. It is necessary to properly execute our plans: go ahead with combat training programs, train young officers of all the defense, security, and law enforcement agencies to do their jobs. It was the main emphasis today.”

Speaking about future combat readiness inspections, Aleksandr Volfovich said they would continue. “When we check periodically, we are confident that the troops can handle the tasks they get assigned. Inspections will continue,” he assured.