The President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko has decided to perform a covert mobilisation in the country in order to reinforce army regiments, as reported by Belarusian internet resources Nasha Niva, referencing anonymous sources.
Mobilisation will happen under the guise of inspections of the army combat groups. Anonymous sources also claim mobilised residents will be brought to training camps. Locals refer to it as «conscription into partisan movement».
According to journalists, countryside residents are to be conscripted in the first wave.
«Conscription of 2 000 people would indicate assembly of army units for specific purposes, such as artillery,» an anonymous Belarusian army officer told the internet resource.
According to the officer, conscription of more than 5 000 people would indicate cause for concern.
«This means assembly of a strike group to be sent in some direction. More than 10 000 would mean multiple strike groups.»
Conscription is the most active in military specialties in which Russia’s army is currently suffering a shortage.
Lukashenko recently announced a «counter-terrorist operation» regime in the country. Additionally, he has also agreed with Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on the creation of a joint army group «for joint national defence».
Since the start of Russian invasion of Ukraine, Belarus has been providing Russian forces the use of their territory as staging grounds.
The first Russian tanks invaded Ukraine from Belarus in the north.
Russian armed forces use Belarusian air space to perform missile attacks on Ukrainian cities.
Western analysts say that Russian army need reinforcements in Belarus in order to divert attention of Ukrainian army along the north borders.