WHO IS BELARUS PRESIDENT ALEXANDER LUKASHENKO, 'EUROPE’S LAST DICTATOR'?
Speaking during a meeting with officials Monday, Lukashenko said the country needs to form paramilitary units in every town or village to serve as territorial defense to complement the country's 45,000 military "in case of aggression." He added that every Belarusian man must learn how to handle weapons "to protect his family and home" if needed.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko will oversee the creation of a new paramilitary group to combat Ukrainian and Western forces in Eastern Europe's ongoing conflict. (Vladimir Astapkovich, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said Belarus will form a force of up to 150,000 volunteers who will be given weapons but keep their civilian jobs. He noted that its members will form a military reserve in peacetime and could act as guerrillas in case of war.
RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: BELARUS WILL JOIN FIGHT IF EVEN 'ONE SOLDIER' ATTACKS TERRITORY, PRESIDENT SAYS
While hailing the importance of defense cooperation with Russia and expressing support for the Kremlin’s action in Ukraine, Lukashenko has emphasized that he will only send Belarusian troops into Ukraine if his country is attacked.
The Kremlin has staunchly backed Lukashenko, who has ruled Belarus with an iron hand for nearly three decades, helping him weather months of massive protests triggered by his re-election in an August 2020 vote that the opposition and the West denounced as rigged.