Defence Minister: President instructed to strengthen vigilance so that Belarusian citizens could peacefully celebrate New Year holidays

Following the reports to the President by the heads of law enforcement agencies, Belarus’ Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin gave a comment

“At the request of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Belarus’ President Aleksandr Lukashenko, I reported him on the situation around our country, as well as on the events that are planned and conducted by the Armed Forces of Belarus in the framework of ensuring the military security of our country. The Commander-in-Chief instructed to strengthen vigilance so that our citizens could peacefully celebrate the New Year holidays,” Mr. Khrenin said.

The Defence Minister emphasised that the level of military presence of the United States, NATO countries in Eastern Europe, as well as in the Baltic States and Poland adjacent to the Republic of Belarus remains at a high level. In this regard, the Belarusian army has planned a set of measures to increase vigilance.

“The protection of the state border in the airspace is planned by the most trained teams, and reconnaissance is organised by the reinforced staff and the most trained groups. For this purpose, we have used all modern means on service with the Armed Forces of Belarus: VOLAR, Rosa-RB, Vostok, Su-30SM aircraft, MI-35M helicopters, as well as the S-400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile system. In addition, in order to avoid provocations on the southern border, the best units of the 38th Separate Guards Airborne Assault Brigade and the 103rd Separate Guards Airborne Assault Brigade have been sent to perform tasks and cover of our southern borders in co-operation with the State Border Committee,” Mr. Khrenin informed.

The Defence Minister stressed, “Duty units with reduced readiness periods have been assigned and are located at permanent deployment points to build up forces in case of sudden tasks. In general, I think that the set of measures that we have planned in co-operation with the Interior Ministry, the State Border Committee, and the State Security Committee will ensure calm holidays and New Year celebration days for our citizens.”