Belarus has traditionally responded to NATO military exercises, which continue near its borders, with retaliatory measures – by drawing its troops to training grounds, showing its readiness for possible threats. The current second phase of the immediate control of the troops, announced by Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, is connected with the NATO “Defense of Europe-2022” maneuvers, in which 18,000 military personnel of the member states of the alliance, including the United States, participated. States, join in. Battalion-tactical groups reinforced with air defense, missile forces and artillery units advanced in this direction to ensure combat operation.
In parallel, Belarus deployed the so-called Special Operations Forces on the border with Ukraine (length 1084 km). “To ensure the security of the Republic of Belarus in the south direction. The Chief of the General Staff of Belarus, Viktor Gulevich, said that Special Operations Forces units are deployed in three tactical directions.
The special operations forces of the Belarusian army include the most combat-ready units. These include the 38th separate airborne assault brigade (Brest), the 103rd separate airborne brigade (Vitebsk), the 5th separate special-purpose brigade (Maryina Gorka in the Minsk region). This is a combat base, there is also the 742nd field communication center, the 91st security battalion and units to perform especially important tasks.
“The combat potential of the Special Operations Forces in Belarus looks extremely high,” Colonel General Georgy Shpak, former commander of the Air Force, told socialbites.ca. – They are based on airborne units, in which the best traditions of the Soviet era have been preserved. The experience of joint military exercises in the framework of the Union State has the effect of performing tasks of a different nature, in which coordinated actions of Russian and Belarusian units are carried out. This is a very powerful and combat-ready army punch capable of both performing special-purpose missions and conducting combined armed combat using a variety of military equipment.”
General Shpak also noted that the Belarusian army carefully studied the experience of conducting a Russian special operation in Ukraine and adjusted all its actions accordingly.
“One of the main lessons is the immediate response of heavy military equipment, tanks and artillery to conflicts. Air support is also important. The Russian Air Force successfully uses such tactics, the Belarusian special forces also adopted such tactics. The distribution takes place simultaneously with the equipment coming to the fore,” added Shpak.
At the same time, the former commander of the Air Force is confident that the purpose of the deployment is not to plan an attack, but to “stop possible provocations from Kiev.”
In total, the Special Operations Forces has more than 6,000 people, equipped with the most advanced equipment, including Russian-made armored vehicles “Tigr”, “Bogatyr”, “Caiman”, BTR-80A.
MTR brigades are also armed with their own artillery battalions and anti-aircraft missile and artillery batteries. For landing, only the military transport aircraft Il-76 with two (plus 4 more civilian suitable for military use), four An-26 and Mi-8 helicopters (including the new Russian Mi-8MTB) can be used. ) 20 pieces.
“In any military operation, the main thing is to withstand the first blow. The Belarusian army could independently repulse almost any enemy. But only on condition that the full power of NATO does not fall on him with the support of the United States. In such a situation, it will be difficult to maintain the defense without the support of Russia, even with the participation of our best and combat-ready units,” he said. To Gazeta, Lieutenant General Anatoly Khrulev, former commander of the 58th Army. ru
The Belarusian army is relatively small in number – about 10 thousand military soldiers, a little more than 70 thousand people, the rest of whom served under the contract, including officers.
“The Belarusian army was not created for offensive operations. For a republic that sees its military policy as purely defense policy, this is enough, the potential of the reserve allows to mobilize up to 500,000 (including 120,000 from the regional defense forces) trained and trained reservists in a few days. employee. Belarus has about 1,600 tanks (more than 600 in operation, the rest in storage), 2,500 armored vehicles (886 infantry fighting vehicles and 192 armored personnel carriers in operation), 1,500 artillery systems. “Minsk has prepared an excellent mobilization mechanism in case of crisis,” said Sergei Belousov, a member of the Military College of Experts.
Source: Gazeta
