Dictator of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, announced the continuation of the inspection of the armed forces in Belarus to check their readiness, the state-run Belarusian news agency BelTA reported on September 11, according to The Kyiv Independent.
"I have already said it clearly for everyone: the army must be set in motion, the time has come. The entire army. We will check everyone. Up to mobilization," Lukashenko said.
Currently, an artillery brigade and communications units are being checked for readiness, after tank and motorized rifle units had already been inspected, according to Lukashenko.
"We are preparing for war, so that there isn't one," he said.
The tests should resemble real battles to properly prepare the Belarusian troops, according to him.
"These are the lessons of the special military operation," Lukashenko added, referring to Russia's full-scale invasion.
Lukashenko also said that his youngest son, Nikolai Lukashenko, is currently serving in the army as a lieutenant after being drafted, without revealing the unit in which he serves.
Belarus is building new railway infrastructure in the southern Gomel region, which will be able to receive trains for the transport of military personnel and heavy equipment, the Belarusian Railway Workers' Community announced on August 24.
"The threat of a reopened northern front is aimed at dispersing Ukrainian forces, drawing units away from their current positions along the front line," Michael Kofman, a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, based in Washington D.C., told The Kyiv Independent.
Units of Russia's 101st Missile Brigade, equipped with the Oreșnik intermediate-range ballistic missile system, are deployed in Belarus, said the head of Ukraine's military intelligence, Oleh Ivașcenko, in an interview published on September 7.
The interview comes more than half a year after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Belarus already hosts "in whole or in part" Russia's Oreșnik missile system, noting that Russia had already completed "preparatory technical work." Zelenskyy described this move as a major escalation risk.
