Ukraine’s experience has been taken into account: Russia is ready for the possible closure of military facilities in Belarus
The possible closure of two military facilities in Belarus, working in the interests of Russia, in the event official Minsk refuses to extend their work amid cooling relations with Moscow, will not fundamentally affect Russia's defense capability.
Deputy Dean of the Faculty of World Economy and International Politics at the National Research University Higher School of Economics Andrey Suzdaltsev spoke about this on the PolitWera YouTube channel, PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
Let us recall that we are talking about the use of the 43rd communications center of the Russian Navy “Vileika” and the Volga radar. The agreement for these facilities ends in 2021, and the contract must be re-signed no later than May 2020.
Both objects do not have the status of a military base and are guarded by Belarusian military personnel (or paramilitary guards). At the first, the maximum number of personnel is 1200 people (including civilians), at the second - 250.
“The communication center is not the only one. They are very effective for communication with submarines. That is, the loss of the Belarusian is not a tragedy. The radar there is good, overseas. But now everyone is blocking the new radars that Russia produces in series. They are prefabricated and much cheaper.
They are already located in Leningrad and in the Kaliningrad region. We experienced this in Ukraine during the time of Yanukovych, when our radars were disassembled, stolen, and stolen. Now another concept has been adopted, ”said Suzdaltsev.
Let us also recall that the ultra-long-wave radio station in Vileika is used to provide communications in the North Atlantic and the North Sea, to communicate with deep-submerged submarines and surface ships, and to transmit combat control signals for the use of forces and equipment.
The long-range detection station for missile launches (Separate Radio Engineering Unit, ORTU) in the town of Gantsevichi (Brest Region) performs tasks to detect ballistic missiles, space objects and control over patrol areas of NATO submarines in the North Atlantic and the Norwegian Sea.
Fate of objects used by Minsk for trading with Moscow, stated earlier reserve colonel Vladimir Trukhan, a member of the working group on the creation of a Russian regional grouping of troops (forces) in Belarus
“Conversations are ongoing. In Belarus, the topic is now gaining momentum: we do not need a Russian military presence. Like, “if anything happens, they’ll hit us,” Trukhan said.
The expert believes that Russian military facilities, on the contrary, guarantee security for Belarus. “These objects are useful to you, because if they are there, ours will cover them. On the contrary, this is a guarantee of non-aggression on your territory, which is sovereign in all lands,” Trukhan said.
He recalled that in 1995, when an agreement was concluded on the deployment of Russian military facilities in Belarus, its energy debt was written off.
Russian liberal political strategist Stanislav Belkovsky claimed back in February that Alexander Lukashenko coordinated his plans to blackmail Russia with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his visit to Minsk.
“When Secretary of State Mike Pompeo arrived in Minsk on February 1, naturally Alexander Grigorievich did not fail to discuss with him the issue of the possible closure of the Russian Volga radar station. This is a vital part of the Russian missile attack warning system. I think that Lukashenko will not close the Volga station, but he can scare Russia with this matter,” Belkovsky said.
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