{"id":210639,"date":"2026-11-05T15:53:31","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T12:53:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/210639\/"},"modified":"2026-11-05T15:53:34","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T12:53:34","slug":"lukasenka-renews-threat-to-punish-farm-staff-with-military-service-for-poor-work","status":"publish","type":"articles","link":"https:\/\/pozirk.online\/en\/news\/210639\/","title":{"rendered":"\u0141uka\u0161enka renews threat to punish farm staff with military service for poor work"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

November 5, Pozirk.<\/em> <\/strong>Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka has once again directed that agricultural workers who are missing performance targets should be forced to do military service, \u201cdigging the earth in winter and sleeping in tents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou set a task and if it\u2019s not fulfilled, go to [Viktar] Chrenin, the defense minister. They will dig the earth in winter and sleep in tents. Discipline should be ironclad, this is not my whim. There is no other way,\u201d the Belarusian ruler said on Thursday while visiting ASB-Ahra Haradziec, an agricultural company in \u0160k\u0142o\u016d, Mahilo\u016d region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to his election as president in 1994, \u0141uka\u0161enka had run collective farm Haradziec, which was reorganized and rebranded in the 2000s to become ASB-Ahra Haradziec.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0141uka\u0161enka expressed satisfaction with the company\u2019s performance but warned against complacency. \u201cGod forbid I see you doing worse than now,\u201d he told the director, Siarhiej Sysa. \u201cThat\u2019s why my advice is that you should require this of people. Why, you\u2019re a young man. You are the future of this country. People like you should grow up here, and we will elevate them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At a government conference on July 21, Alaksandar \u0141uka\u0161enka ordered that workers who have failed to perform their duties properly during the 2026 harvesting season should be sent to southern Belarus to guard the border with Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military recruitment center officials subsequently started visiting agricultural companies to identify poor workers who should be punished with military service. The defense ministry organized a series of training camps for those individuals.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 5, Defense Minister Chrenin announced that the objective of the training had been achieved but warned that such drills would resume if necessary. The ministry reported that more than 170 farmers had completed an intensive combat training course with the 103rd Viciebsk Separate Guards Airborne Brigade and passed exams in marksmanship, tactics, engineering and medical training over the previous two months. Participants also trained to secure Belarus\u2019 southern borders, fortify terrain and patrol \u201cparticularly dangerous sections of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chrenin described the conscripts as \u201cvery good, hardworking people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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