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People's Militia / Narodnaje Apalcennie

Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin promised 27 May 2022 to create a people's militia in the country. Belarus decided to increase the number of armed forces to 80,000 people [the ground forces currently numbered about 30,000]. According to the head of the defense department Viktor Khrenin, the country has enough people and weapons for this. The authorities still need to agree on technical issues and introduce the definition of the people's militia into the legislation.

Lukashenko suggested that the "people's militia" he is creating should consist of groups of about 50 people for each village council. Lukashenko believes that those who join the "people's militia" should have basic knowledge of weapons. He emphasised that "a real man should be able to protect his family if necessary." Lukashenko stated: "And I thought that just in case we need to have this people's militia, a group of people for every village council. There will be few of them. Maybe 50 people. But they should also have their weapons somewhere in a warehouse. We are calling them for training - they will take their submachine guns (mostly submachine guns, grenade launchers, guns) so that they can protect their houses."

The people's militia is essentially an army assembled to help the army on a voluntary basis. The first militia was created in 1611 in Moscow to put an end to the Polish-Lithuanian intervention. In the modern manifestation, such military formations were created in the DPR during the armed conflict in 2014-2015. Later, these troops came under the control of the created Ministry of Defense of the Donetsk People's Republic, after which they were reorganized into the corps of the armed forces - that is, the regular army.

The authorities of Belarus intend to form a people's militia in the country. This was stated to journalists by Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin. “At yesterday’s meeting, as part of adjusting the issues of clarifying the development of the armed forces, the commander-in-chief was given the task, among other things, to create a people’s militia in the country. This issue, we see, is really important,” the minister said during the annual meeting “Military Security and Defense of the State”.

According to Khrenin, there are enough resources in Belarus to create a new type of military formations, and the issue of creating a people's militia will be resolved after the legislative registration of this initiative. “We have both people and weapons for this. We need to resolve certain issues, formalize it in law. But the most important thing that we must understand is that the number of defenders of our Motherland will increase significantly,” the minister added.

“It is very important for us in the current situation to show that we shouldn’t poke our noses, because the answer will be adequate if someone enters our territory,” the defense minister stated. Speaking about military training with the participation of regional governors, Viktor Khrenin noted that they have already become traditional. The importance and relevance of territorial defense in Belarus is evidenced by the military and political situation that has developed near the country.

The process of forming the so-called "people's militia" has been intensified in Belarus. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported "The process of forming the so-called "people's militia" of the Republic of Belarus has been intensified. Meetings with local residents are held at military commissariats to clarify the need for these units”. Besides, it is noted that the Belarusian military continues to carry out the tasks on a rotating basis to cover the section of the Belarusian-Ukrainian border in the Brest and Gomel regions. To prevent the exposure of positions and locations of military equipment, the local population is prohibited from visiting forests. Combat readiness exercises have begun in the Armed Forces of Belarus. The transition from peaceful time to wartime is proclaimed as their goal.

On 11 March 2022, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow , said that an attack was being prepared on his country, and said that he had brought the corresponding map with him. “Now I will show you where the attack on Belarus was prepared from. And if six hours before the operation there had not been a preventive strike on positions - four positions, I’ll show you now, I brought a map - they would have attacked our troops, Belarus and Russia, who were at the exercises, ”said Lukashenka.

On 05 May 2022, the Belarusian General Staff announced that NATO had doubled its military contingent in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, and on the basis of units near the borders of Belarus and Russia, strike groups could be created as soon as possible. According to Minsk, a group of 37.5 thousand people was deployed to the eastern flank of the alliance.

State Secretary of the Belarusian Security Council Alexander Volfovich announced on May 22 that Ukrainian sabotage and reconnaissance groups are entering the territory of Belarus, and the Ukrainian side is "engineering equipment of sections of the border with Belarus", as well as mining and "implementation of blockages." In addition, he said that the number of reconnaissance flights along the Belarusian border has increased to six or seven every day.

After that, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced the creation of a new operational command in the armed forces in the southern direction. He explained that Minsk also expects pressure from Poland, Lithuania and Latvia, in particular with the help of NATO troops stationed there, and by maintaining the escalation of hostilities in Ukraine. Lukashenka said that he was offered to create a new operational command in the southern direction last year, but "the changing situation prompted Minsk to think that the structure must be created immediately."