MINSK, February 3. /TASS/. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko explained the purpose of conducting a snap inspection of the country's armed forces without prior notification to the General Staff and the Defense Ministry.
According to the BelTA news agency, after the announcement of the armed forces inspection in mid-January, the self-exiled opposition began spreading disinformation: "Oh, he doesn’t trust the Defense Minister, he doesn’t trust the General Staff." "I trust everyone. But this is a snap inspection conducted by the Commander-in-Chief," Lukashenko said. "And I want to see how the General Staff and the Defense Ministry respond during this snap inspection," he added at a meeting on the development of the Vitebsk region.
According to the Belarusian leader, this illustrates the key difference between a snap inspection and other inspections conducted in the Armed Forces.
BelTA reported that, following the snap inspection principle, the president signed a directive classified as "secret" that outlined the plan for the event. State Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Volfovich received a sealed package containing the document and then traveled to the military unit designated by the head of state. "That’s why it bypassed the General Staff and the Defense Minister. However, the Defense Minister was immediately informed of the content of my directive. What did I do wrong? What if war breaks out? What will we do?" "I must be convinced that our military do not eat their bread for nothing," Lukashenko emphasized.
Speaking about the preliminary assessment of the snap inspection, the country’s leader noted, "It seems satisfactory." However, the final results will be released later, he said.
The large-scale inspection was initiated on January 16 under Lukashenko’s direct orders, with the president personally overseeing the process. On January 26, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin announced that the armed forces had begun assessing the combat readiness of various units and formations. He clarified that the inspections conducted by the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff, which started on January 16, are separate from the presidential-led inspections — parallel efforts aimed at ensuring military preparedness.