Alyaksandr Lukashenka has demanded that the country ensure the production of key commonly used munitions by the end of the year. He made the statement at a thematic meeting on Tuesday.
“No one should have any doubt that in modern conditions a self-sufficient state can exist. Unfortunately, when we speak about self-sufficiency today, we primarily mean the military sphere, security in the military sphere.
Whether we want it or not, I warned about this long ago, both the Belarusian people — and you all the more so know this — we will have to strengthen our defense capability,” he said, according to his press service.
Lukashenka expressed concern about rising military spending by neighboring countries. It should be noted that this growth has primarily been triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, including via the territory of Belarus.
“The buildup of a military component near our borders, especially on the part of Poland, does not merely concern us. We understand that this is not done without reason. People do not simply spend money on tanks and ammunition. Therefore, at one time I made a decision, taking into account the Russian Federation’s special military operation, to engage in strengthening our defense capability on an even larger scale,” he added.
Lukashenka also emphasized that the war in Ukraine is being fought not only with missiles and drones. According to him, conventional weapons continue to play a major role, including Grad multiple-launch rocket systems.
“We continue to see during the war in Ukraine that conventional weapons play a major role. Artillery, 152-millimeter munitions for it. And the Grad systems — formerly the Katyusha during the Great Patriotic War — have proven very effective. They helped us very seriously back then, and today Grad-type systems play a major role on the battlefield.
Therefore, at one time a decision was made to equip our systems with munitions. A decision was made to build appropriate production facilities in our country that could produce a sufficient quantity of munitions. There is no secret here, I am not hiding this. You can see what is happening in Western Europe. Rheinmetall and other major European companies are producing munitions in ever greater quantities,” Lukashenka said.
He stressed that production of the main munitions must be deployed in the country by the end of the year. He noted that the meeting as a whole was of a closed nature.
“But the main question is how the creation of munitions production capacities is progressing. By next year, or even by the end of this year, we must have our own munitions — commonly used munitions.
At one time, we faced the question of our own production of cartridges. We solved that issue. Grenade launchers will have their place in any battle, especially under our conditions and natural environment. Therefore, rounds for grenade launchers must be our own. And it must be understood that all munitions can be stored well. We can produce them in sufficient quantities and place them in storage.
These are not drones, which cannot be stockpiled in large quantities. And how many warehouses would be needed to store unmanned aerial vehicles of different types?” he said.
“How has production been organized in line with my instructions? And I want to warn everyone — God forbid you miss the deadlines for this undertaking,” Lukashenka warned.
He also drew attention to the distribution of powers and responsibilities.
“I do not want the government to step aside from these problems. But everyone has their own tasks. Financing — together with the minister of finance and others, you are responsible for that. And organization and control must be with the State Secretariat and the State Control Committee,” he said.
Those attending the meeting included Prime Minister Alyaksandr Turchyn, Head of the Lukashenka Administration Dzmitry Krutoi, State Secretary of the Security Council Alyaksandr Valfovich, Chairman of the State Control Committee Vasiliy Herasimau, Deputy Prime Ministers Viktar Karankevich and Anatoliy Sivak, Defense Minister Viktar Khrenin, Finance Minister Uladzislau Tatarynovich, and Chairman of the State Authority for Military Industry Dzmitry Pantus.
