Belarus president takes five-year-old ‘heir’ to military drills

 

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko took his five-year-old son with him to the recent Fall-2008 Russia-Belarus military exercises, Radio Liberty has reported.

The Fall-2008 exercises took place earlier this month and involved around 8,500 personnel, military and special hardware, including over 40 aircraft, more than 60 tanks and around 250 armored vehicles.

Lukashenko’s son Nikolai was photographed observing the exercises and receiving reports with his father. Both of them were dressed in the uniform of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Belarus.

Lukashenko also referred to his son as his “heir” and the future president of Belarus.

Following the military exercises, Lukashenko said the Belarusian army had “risen from its knees.”

“As a general and a man who has given his whole life to the army, I am ashamed,” former Belarusian defense minister Pavel Kozlovskiy told Radio Liberty.

Lukashenko says Belarus army ‘risen from its knees’

 

The Belarus president said on Tuesday that the country’s armed forces had “risen from its knees.”

Speaking after joint exercises between the Russian and Belarusian militaries, Alexander Lukashenko said that, “The period of the decline of the armed forces is over. The army we have today has risen from its knees.”

The Fall-2008 Russia-Belarus exercises involved around 8,500 personnel, military and special hardware, including over 40 aircraft, more than 60 tanks, around 250 armored vehicles and up to 40 artillery pieces.

“Our armed forces are not designed for offensive aims, but are the guarantee of security and territorial integrity for the state,” he added.

He also said that the country’s armed forces would meet accepted world standards by 2015.

Russian – Belarussian military exercise

Russian army Sukhoi Su-25 jets, taking part in a joint military exercise with the Belarussian army, drops bombs in Domanovo, about 200 km (124 miles) southwest of Minsk, October 21, 2008. More than 8,000 troops are taking part in the joint military exercise.

Lukashenko: “Our friendship with Russia isn`t for sale. You can be sure.”

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin advanced the Russian ruble for the Coalition State

Larisa Kaftan
KP.RU

Yesterday, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin flew to Minsk to attend a conference of the Coalition State’s Council of Ministers. But while on route to the Zaslavl residence just outside the Belarus capital, Putin decided to stop by the presidential administration to visit Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko.

The offices of the Belarus administration are now equipped with high-tech detectors and electronic walkways that court visitors and employees through the entrance. The technology allows secret service employees to scan all those entering the building.

Putin was exempted from the procedure. However, the officials and journalists who arrived to take part in the conference were thoroughly examined from head to toe. After meeting with Putin, Lukashenko unexpectedly made several statements, which sounded more like justifications or explanations, about some misunderstandings in the press that appeared as though Belarus was selling its friendship with Russia for links with the West.