Opinions & Interviews

Defense minister: We pay the closest attention to air defense

Viktor Khrenin. Photo courtesy of the Belarusian Defense Ministry's news agency Vayar

MINSK, 3 May (BelTA) – The Armed Forces pay close attention to air defense, BelTA learned from Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin.

The defense minister noted that a lot of NATO forces remain concentrated near Belarusian borders and the intensity of their combat training is not going down.

“For instance, six military exercises are in progress in the territory of neighboring countries today. As part of the Defender Europe exercise a very large amount of hardware and personnel is moving across the territory of European countries, including aerial units. This is why upon the commander-in-chief’s decision within the framework of the ongoing snap inspection of the Armed Forces the duty Air Defense units were checked: how they carry out combat duty tasks as they protect the air border,” Viktor Khrenin said.

In his words, it is too early to talk about the results but preliminary results indicate that Belarusian military personnel accomplish their missions on the whole. “Detailed results will be revealed slightly later. The commander-in-chief has instructed us to report the final results of this inspection to him,” the defense minister added.

The official underlined that today it is important to track all kinds of threats because they can come from anywhere. Moreover, forms and methods of warfare are changing, with unmanned aerial vehicles often getting prioritized.

This is why the closest attention is paid to air defense now. The Belarusian army is getting modern Su-30SM aircraft, Mi-35M helicopters, and air defense missile systems S-400 Triumf. They ensure the protection of Belarus’ state border in the air space. “It may sound metaphoric but they ensure peaceful skies above our heads,” Viktor Khrenin stated.

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