Lukashenko is calling up reserve officers amid an expansion of military conscription in Belarus
Belarus is expanding its military conscription practices and is now additionally calling up reserve officers up to the age of 27, officially citing this as part of planned measures to strengthen the army and the mobilization reserve, according to local media reports.
Belarus’s self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko, signed a decree on the conscription of reserve officers into the Armed Forces and the Border Guard Service. According to the document, men up to 27 years of age from among reserve officers who have not completed compulsory military service, have not been in the reserve, and have no legal grounds for deferment may be called up for service. Belarusian authorities claim that such measures are allegedly carried out annually on a planned basis and are part of the standard army recruitment system.
The explanatory notes to the decree state that the purpose of the draft is to increase the staffing levels of officer positions in units and to ensure the preparation of a mobilization reserve in case of need. “Such measures are carried out by the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus annually on a scheduled basis,” according to official statements from the Belarusian side.
At the same time, the decree itself does not specify exactly how many reserve officers are planned to be drafted this time.
It is worth noting that the regular spring draft is also underway in Belarus. In March, a campaign began to recruit men aged 18 to 27 for active duty, which will last until May.
Against this backdrop, expanding the categories of conscripts who can be called up for service effectively strengthens the country’s overall mobilization capacity, even despite official statements about the “routine nature” of such decisions.
Additionally, Russia may have instructed Belarus to keep Ukrainian forces “on edge” ahead of new attacks in the east and south. At the same time, Ukraine is observing troop activity and the preparation of positions near the border.
Law enforcement agencies have uncovered large-scale abuses during the procurement of firewood for the Armed Forces of Ukraine—total losses exceed 100 million hryvnias.
