Reuters: Belarus plans to form 100,000-150,000 strong volunteer military force

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko said on Feb. 20 that he had ordered the formation of a new volunteer territorial defense in the country so that everyone knows how to "handle weapons" and be ready to respond to an act of aggression.

"The situation is not easy. I have said more than once: every man - and not only a man - should be able to at least handle weapons," Lukashenko said at the meeting of his Security Council, according to Reuters.

Country's Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said the territorial defense force would have 100,000-150,000 volunteers, and those formations would be located ideally in every village and town. The country's professional army has about 48,000 troops and some 12,000 state border troops, according to the 2022 International Institute for Strategic Studies' Military Balance.

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