Lukashenko appoints new chief of general staff, instructs him to consider "lessons of Ukraine war"

BELTA media outlet reports about this.

Until now, Pavel Muraveika was the First Deputy Secretary of State of the Security Council of Belarus.

During the appointment, Lukashenko emphasized the importance of the Defense Minister and the Chief of the General Staff working together. 

"The Defense Minister is the Defense Minister in the country, and everyone in the Ministry of Defense is subordinate to him. However, the Chief of the General Staff has some independence. He is directly involved in the planning and implementation of certain military activities. Everything that the troops live for," he said.

Secretary of the Security Council Alexander Volfovich, who presented Muraveiko's candidacy, assured that "both Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin and Pavlo Muraveiko are state men who are responsible for the country's security, they have experience, knowledge and, most importantly, focus on the end result." 

The war in Ukraine

Lukashenko emphasized that he was "closely monitoring" not only the situation in Belarus.

"So that you understand that I am closely monitoring the situation not only in the country as a whole, but also specifically, especially in this difficult situation, the issues that are developing in our Armed Forces," the self-proclaimed president said. He is focusing the further development of the Armed Forces on what is happening in the country. 

"This is also a lesson for us. It is a serious lesson. We must see what modern warfare is like," he said.

And he drew the new Chief of the General Staff's attention to this.

"Let's aim to develop the Armed Forces in the way we have been doing so far. Studying everything that is happening around us," Lukashenko added. 

He also said that certain conclusions have already been drawn: "We have already made certain conclusions for ourselves. We have realized what mines and minefields are. What we wanted to destroy on the West's instructions. Thank God, we saved it. We know what counter-battery warfare is. And we especially understand that in today's conditions it is impossible to fight without unmanned aerial vehicles, as well as without electronic warfare systems that should effectively affect both unmanned aerial vehicles and other modern weapons. We have repeatedly talked about this."

According to the Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus, Pavel Muraveiko previously served in various positions in the Armed Forces. For 9 years - until 2022 - he held the position of chief of the main operational department - deputy chief of the general staff, participated in the development of documents on the state defense plan, and was involved in the preparation and conduct of major exercises, including joint ones with Russia. 

• On April 2, Lukashenko said that his country was preparing for war, and that defense readiness was being strengthened.
• On May 10, Lukashenko dismissed Viktor Gulevich from the post of Chief of the General Staff of Belarus.