Lukashenko said he had instructed that the combat-readiness check of the armed forces continue, according to BelTA. An artillery brigade, tank units and motorized rifle subunits had undergone the check before, he said.
"The army needs to be shaken up, the time has come. The whole army. We will check everyone. Up to mobilization," Lukashenko said. According to him, the checks are being conducted "as it will be in war," and the goal is "to prepare for war so that it does not happen."
He also cited "aggressive rhetoric" toward Minsk from a number of countries, "provocations," intelligence gathering "brazenly" and violations of airspace. Lukashenko did not name which countries he meant.
At the same time, he said Belarus does not intend to attack its neighbors. According to him, it is impossible to win a conflict with the "monsters located along the perimeter." "Why start a war then?" Lukashenko said. He did not mention support for the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Separately, Lukashenko spoke about his youngest son, Nikolai, who is 22. "He serves in the army as he should, like everyone else. A lieutenant. I won't say where, but in the most difficult unit," Radio Liberty quoted him as saying. According to Lukashenko, his son's service does not prevent him from continuing to study biotechnology.
Nikolai Lukashenko's army service had not been reported previously, and there is no independent confirmation of it. Lukashenko, the father, has said that while studying at university his son trained at a military department, meaning he was not subject to conscription for mandatory service.
Lukashenko has spoken about combat-readiness checks before. In April, summing up a comprehensive check of the armed forces, he said there could be "no peacetime," and in June he said Belarus "is always preparing for war so that it does not happen." In late August, he ordered a snap combat-readiness check of the army.
Earlier, the commander of the special operations forces of the Belarusian armed forces, Alexander Illyukevich, reported the formation of a new air assault brigade near the border with Ukraine, with the unit expected to be stationed in the Gomel area. Sources told The Wall Street Journal that Vladimir Putin had begun demanding that Lukashenko open a new front in Ukraine, and that Moscow counted on using Belarus for operations against neighboring NATO member states, including launching drones.