Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko said Belarus will “selectively mobilize” military units and prepare them for possible combat operations following a large-scale inspection of the country’s armed forces.
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According to the Belarusian state agency BelTA on May 12, Lukashenko made the statement during a meeting with Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin, where officials discussed the results of recent military readiness checks, personnel changes in the armed forces, and Belarus’ future defense planning.
“We will selectively mobilize units in order to prepare them for war. God willing, it can be avoided,” Lukashenko said.
The remarks come amid a broader military modernization effort in Belarus and growing emphasis on combat readiness, electronic warfare systems, drones, and mobilization capacity.
More than 6,000 reservists and personnel took part in recent inspections and exercises conducted by the Belarusian Defense Ministry and General Staff. Belarusian authorities said the drills were used to assess troop readiness, logistics, and mobilization procedures.
A day earlier, Lukashenko chaired a separate meeting on Belarus’ state armament program for 2026–2030, where officials discussed future military procurement and defense spending.
During that meeting, Lukashenko stated that Belarus must prepare weapons and military systems adapted to its own terrain and operational conditions, while also emphasizing the role of electronic warfare and unmanned aerial systems in modern warfare.
He also argued that airstrikes alone are insufficient to win wars, saying that “without a ground operation, it is impossible,” while discussing contemporary military conflicts.
Belarus has remained Russia’s closest military ally throughout Moscow’s full-scale war against Ukraine, allowing Russian forces to use Belarusian territory for military operations, training, and deployments. However, Belarusian troops have not officially entered combat in Ukraine.
Earlier, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Kyiv had recorded “specific activity” on the Belarusian side of the northern border, including infrastructure work and the construction of artillery positions near Ukraine. He stated that Ukrainian forces were “monitoring everything” and would respond if necessary.
TiredOfDebates on May 12nd, 2026 at 15:51 UTC »
I kind of doubt that Belarus is going to attack anyone soon.
But this rhetoric forces Ukraine to consider an attack from Belarus. (Russian units did attack into Ukraine from Belarus territory, after all.)
The renewed threat forces Ukraine's military leaders to spend time considering this avenue of attack, which leaves them with less time to work on the active military engagements to the east. It forces Ukraine to spend intelligence resources to gauge the probability and sincerity of the threat. Less time to spend elsewhere. Ukraine may shift manpower to their border with Belarus because of the threat, leaving other fronts with less.China does a similar routine with Taiwan. China so frequently sends squadrons of jets towards Taiwan, in attack formation... and then they peel off at the last moment, and return home. Each time this happens, Taiwan has to scramble fighters and air defense assets to respond to the potential threat. This happens over and over again, week after week. The point is to psychologically build up the impression that it is always going to play out like this. So IF / WHEN China actually follows through in such an attack, it would be surprise for the defenders.
Further if itchy-trigger fingers fire too early, then China has a "provocation" that they can cite for their domestic audience, as a "cause for war."
These lethal games they play.
Furthermore, these antagonistic saber-rattling tactics have become normalized. Lowering the bar of what ought to be considered expected of participants in the international community. By slowly ratcheting up the pressure like this, over years, they strengthen their military's position without any one event that draws international condemnation (that could lead to sanctions).
Samski877 on May 12nd, 2026 at 15:25 UTC »
Lukashenko says things like this so often now that its hard to tell how much is actual military planning and how much is political theatre for Russia and domestic audiences.
Still, Belarus becoming more militarised over the last few years is definitely real, especially with how closely tied they are to Russia now. Thats probably what worries neighbouring countries more than the headline itself.
NOT_EVEN_THAT_GUY on May 12nd, 2026 at 15:18 UTC »
Lukashenko is a jabroni