Aliaksandr Lukashenka said Belarusian military officers should serve not for the prospect of receiving housing but out of a desire to defend their homeland. He made the remarks while hearing a report on proposed amendments to the Armed Forces Construction and Development Plan through 2030.
The proposed changes were prepared following an inspection of the Armed Forces conducted earlier this year.
“At one time, a large-scale inspection of the Armed Forces was carried out. We reviewed the results in a preliminary manner. Frankly speaking, without hiding anything. According to my information, the discussion of the results was received very positively within the military. People in uniform reacted positively. However, during the review, a number of factors and issues were identified that we in the military — that is, you — were supposed to discuss and report on with the aim of adjusting the Armed Forces Construction and Development Plan through 2030,” Lukashenka said.
He proposed discussing the adjustments in a practical manner without referring to the hardships of military service.
“Let’s do without these ‘heroics.’ We have already seen such ‘heroics’ from the military and discussed them at a meeting.
Specifically, how did you discuss these issues, what conclusions did you reach, and what are we going to do next?
Increasing the effectiveness of air defense, countering unmanned aerial vehicles, and officer training are among the key priorities.
We cannot afford to make mistakes. We do not have excess money. We cannot convert the entire Armed Forces to drones. Nor is that necessary under our conditions. But that is my opinion. Perhaps you discussed it and decided that we should do as the rest of the world does — everyone seems obsessed with ‘drones, drones!’ today. That is dangerous. We need to learn how to fight drones. We need strong weapons against drones, ranging from conventional small arms to electronic warfare systems. This is our field. We know how to do it. We did some of it in Soviet times and we are doing it now. But our defense industry needs to become more active in certain areas,” Lukashenka said.
Speaking about military training, he stressed that officer training was the most important priority.
“The main thing is officers. We should not deceive ourselves. We will never be able to train an ordinary conscript in one and a half or two years to the level of an officer. But if an officer is well trained and has a good head on his shoulders, he will quickly lead the servicemen under his command and show them what to do and in which direction to act.
Therefore, officers are priority number one. They must be trained properly. And if someone does not want to do that, then we are not on the same path,” he said.
Lukashenka said much had been done to improve the material conditions of military personnel. Defense Minister Viktar Khrenin confirmed this assessment.
“And you constantly come to me talking about the need to solve rear-service issues: apartments, wives, kitchens, children and so on. I understand that these things matter. But an officer must understand that we do not serve merely so that there is a kitchen. We chose this profession in order to defend the homeland. And we will do so under different conditions.
When we, frankly speaking, are not a wealthy country and sometimes take what is nearly the last resource from the people for the sake of the Armed Forces, especially now, officers must repay that with their military service. There is no alternative,” he concluded.
Also present at the meeting were State Security Council Secretary Aliaksandr Valfovich, his deputy Andrei Harbatsenka, Defense Minister Viktar Khrenin, Chief of the Main Intelligence Directorate and Deputy Chief of the General Staff Uladzimir Kupryianyuk, Commander of the Special Operations Forces Aliaksandr Iliukevich, and Commander of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces Andrei Lukyanovich.
