Belarus will establish a new volunteer force to defend its territory so that everyone can be trained in “weapons handling”, be able to react if the country is attacked and help maintain public order in peacetime, it said yesterday Monday the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko.

“The situation is not easy. I’ve said it before, more than once: every man — and not just every man — should at least be able to handle weapons,” the head of state said during a meeting of his government’s national security council.

“At least to be able to protect his family if necessary, his home, his land, and if necessary, his homeland.”

Mr Lukashenko, who allowed Russia to use Belarusian territory when it invaded Ukraine nearly a year ago, has repeatedly said his military would only go to war if the country was attacked.

He has also judged that the “experience” in Ukraine shows that there is a need to strengthen the defense of Belarus.

“In the event that we are attacked, the reaction will be quick, tough and appropriate,” the president assured yesterday.

Weapons training ‘in every village and town’

Defense Minister Viktor Chrenin clarified that the volunteer paramilitary force will consist of 100,000 to 150,000 members, adding that its personnel will be increased if deemed necessary.

The plan is to provide training in every village and town, he added.

Belarus’ professional army has about 48,000 members, while the border guard has about 12,000 members, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Military Balance 2022 report.

“Boy” of Putin

A pariah to the West, Mr Lukashenko, the longest-reigning head of state in Europe — he has ruled Belarus for 28 years — is dependent on Russia politically and economically. The support of Russian President Vladimir Putin allowed him to suppress the mass anti-government protests of 2020.

This dependence causes concern in Kiev that Moscow could pressure Minsk to join a new ground offensive, opening a new front in the war.

“The elements of the cold war, the arms race and the nuclear blackmail of the leaders of certain Western states, have returned to the current international agenda,” the Belarusian leader said yesterday.

The European Union, the US and some other countries have imposed tough sanctions on the former Soviet republic for supporting Russia’s war against Ukraine.