Aliaksandr Lukashenka has not abandoned hope that Belarus will develop a wonder weapon capable of countering drones. He returned to the subject today during a meeting on the creation of the Academy of Intellectual Technologies, addressing Education Minister Andrei Ivanets.
Lukashenka stressed that he did not care what management model the new institution would have — whether headed by a rector, a director or a supervisory board. In any case, he said, Ivanets would be responsible for it.
“You are an educated, competent person. And I do not want to offend you or myself: you are not a humanities specialist — you are a chemist. Whenever I read that someone is a chemist or a physicist, I think that is good. That is not just empty talk, as we often had from historians and others — not you, I mean myself. I graduated from the history faculty, but later realized that was not enough, so I went to the economics faculty. And that is not chemistry or physics either.
That is why I would like to hear your opinion not only as a young person but also as a specialist. I ask you to decide what the focus should be. Are we going to develop new types of drones, as people like to talk about these days, or are we going to create new materials and only succeed in doing so 200 years from now? By then they will probably discover yet another element somewhere on the Kola Peninsula that is more valuable than gold. You have heard about that, haven’t you?” Lukashenka asked.
“Rare earths,” Ivanets interjected.
“Yes, they found a rare-earth material that is more valuable than gold. So what we need… I am not saying today, but it still has to be focused on the future. At the same time, it should produce results, if not during my lifetime, then certainly during yours. Every year we must prove to people, to ourselves and to others, that we did not create this in vain and that these are the very best talents. There will not be many of them in the country, but they will find their place there.
And I think age does not matter. At least that is my view. But if you believe only people after the 10th grade or after university should be there… Well, I mean, what if Uladzimir Piartsou has a brilliant mind? He graduated from university a long time ago. Or Natallia Piatkevich, who also finished university quite some time ago.
But then a spark appears in someone’s mind and they could produce an excellent result at the center. Uladzimir Barysavich may not invent a drone, but he might invent an exceptionally powerful means of countering drones and render all drones in the world obsolete. I keep thinking about this idea now. Everyone is obsessed with drones, saying we need drones, more drones. But what if someone clever in a small country — Israel, Belarus or somewhere else — creates a system capable of countering any drone? That’s it — they stop flying, they fall, they explode and so on. It does not fit with the idea that only 10th graders or recent university graduates should be there. We need to open the doors of this academy to talented people. How should that be done? You need to answer that question for me today,” Lukashenka said.
In June last year, while visiting a training and operational center for unmanned aerial systems in the Byaroza district, Lukashenka said that “it would be desirable to have such a wonder machine that could deal with all drones and deprive them of the ability to perform their functions.”
In November 2025, during a meeting with the head of the National Academy of Sciences, Uladzimir Karanik, Lukashenka spoke instead about creating an invulnerable drone.
“Take a drone, for example. There you have it — something invulnerable that flies and, relatively speaking, cannot be reached by electronic warfare or any weapon. Produce it, put a prototype on the table, and receive money for your invention,” he said.
