Belarus launches readiness check of air force, air defences

A combat-readiness inspection ordered by Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has begun in the country’s Air Force and Air Defense Forces, Belarusian State Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Volfovich said.

“The inspection of the armed forces and other structures of the state’s military organisation is continuing. We recently completed an inspection of the Interior Ministry,” Volfovich said, according to the BelTA news agency.

He recalled that one of the tank battalions of a mechanized brigade underwent a surprise inspection last week.

“By the way, they coped with the tasks quite well. A more detailed analysis is still under way. Its results will be reported to the president. Today, the Air Force and Air Defence Forces are next in line,” Volfovich said.

He described the Air Force and Air Defense Forces as one of the most important branches of Belarus’ armed forces, noting that they perform combat-duty missions even in peacetime.

According to Volfovich, their responsibilities include protecting Belarus’ airspace as well as the external perimeter of the Union State, the political and economic union between Belarus and Russia.

“Therefore, they must always be ready to carry out tasks that arise unexpectedly and to protect critically important facilities,” he said.

The latest inspection is part of a broader readiness check covering Belarus’ armed forces and other structures within the country’s military organization. The Interior Ministry was inspected recently, while a surprise assessment of a tank battalion was conducted the previous week.

By Tamilla Hasanova