{"id":187188,"date":"2026-05-12T13:56:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T10:56:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/187188\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T15:41:29","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T12:41:29","slug":"lukasenka-vows-to-keep-troops-ready-for-war","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/187188\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00a0\u0141uka\u0161enka vows to keep troops ready for war"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n\n \"\"\n
\n \n
\n (\u0141uka\u0161enka's press office)<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

May 12, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>The army exists to be ready to conduct military operations if necessary, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has told Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin, while stressing Belarus\u2019 commitment to peace, his press office reports.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe will selectively mobilize units to prepare them for war. God willing, we will be able to avoid it,\u201d the politician said, commenting on the results of a recent large-scale inspection of the Armed Forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was waiting for you to figure out for yourselves what the strengths and weaknesses were,\u201d his press office quoted him as saying. \u201cI decided that we shouldn\u2019t hide shortcomings, but we didn\u2019t go out of our way to flaunt them either. . . We were more open about them than the leadership of other countries. Perhaps that\u2019s the right approach: people need to see that we won\u2019t hide anything.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka instructed Chrenin to give maximum attention to the shortcomings identified during the inspection, including staffing issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From mid-January to mid-March, Belarus carried out a large-scale surprise drill initiated by \u0141uka\u0161enka and bypassing the defense minister.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Belarusian army is regularly conducting drills amid tensions with the West and Russia\u2019s full-scale war against Ukraine, in which Minsk supports Moscow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n
\n \"\"