Expert on Lukashenko's statement that Belarus is preparing for war: the potential of the Belarusian army is more than serious
Kyiv • UNN
The Belarusian army has a serious potential with destructive capabilities, such as the Polonez MLRS, which can threaten NATO, the Baltic states and Poland, but it lacks recent combat experience, a military expert believes.
The potential of the Belarusian army is more than serious, and it has the appropriate means of destruction, in particular the Polonez MLRS, which can pose certain threats to a potential enemy. First of all, to NATO and the Baltic states. This opinion was expressed to UNN by military expert Dmitry Snegirev, commenting on the statement of the self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko that Minsk is preparing troops for possible hostilities.
"The ground forces of the Republic of Belarus number up to 40,000. Several brigades are combat-ready: rapid response brigades, an airborne brigade. In addition, the army of the Republic of Belarus has not had any real combat experience in recent decades. Nevertheless, the potential of the Belarusian army is more than serious, and there are appropriate means of destruction, in particular, the Polonez MLRS, which can pose certain threats to a potential enemy. First of all, to NATO countries, the Baltic states and Poland," Snegirev said.
He recalled Lukashenko's statement about the possibility of implementing the so-called Suwalki Corridor. The Suwalki Corridor is the area on the border between Lithuania and Poland, through which the Baltic states are connected to the rest of the EU. Snegiryov noted that this is a land area that, according to the Russians, should connect the Republic of Belarus with the Kaliningrad region of the Russian Federation.
"His recent statements indicate that the Russian Federation is using Belarus as an element of its military and political doctrine to raise the stakes in the confrontation with the NATO bloc. That is, the threats seem to come not from Putin, but from the Republic of Belarus. This is the most dangerous scenario, when either quasi-formations of Russia, such as the Wagner military industrial complex, or units of the Russian regular army, can be involved under the guise of the armed forces of Belarus, which can be used in confrontation with NATO countries under the guise of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus," Snegirev said.
That is, according to him, the so-called hybrid nature of the war, which was an element of Russia's military invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014, is again present.
"This is the most dangerous scenario. Therefore, it is worth saying that with such statements, first of all, the Russian Federation is raising the so-called stakes. Moreover, all these Lukashenko's "threats" coincide with a sharp intensification of the Russian offensive on the front line in Ukraine and, accordingly, intensification of rocket attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure," Snegiryov said.
He noted that, on the other hand, the Russian Federation declares its readiness for so-called "peace talks," but on Russian terms.
"That is, fixing the state of events directly on the front line. it is no coincidence that Russia went on the offensive to be able to enter into so-called peace talks by May, let's say, from the position of possible control of the entire territory of Donetsk region. That is, all these threats by Lukashenko are an element of forcing the West to start the so-called peace talks with Russia," Snegiryov said.
Context
Self-proclaimed President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko statedthat Minsk does not want war, but is preparing its troops for possible hostilities. In the morning, on April 2, it became known that the armed forces of Belarus started military exercises in two regions bordering Ukraine, Lithuania and Poland. In particular, they will be held on the territory of the Voronov district of the Grodno region.
