President’s Special Envoy on Lukashenko’s decisions of the 1990s that made it possible to ensure Belarus’ military security

In his talk with the Belarus 1 TV channel, Viktor Sheiman, the President’s Special Envoy, the first State Secretary of Belarus’ Security Council, explained what decisions of the Head of State in the 1990s made it possible to ensure the country’s military security

Photo: video screenshot

Mr. Sheiman noted that the decision to withdraw nuclear weapons had been made not by the Head of State. "The task was to be completed based on the pre-signed documents. Belarus joined the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 1993, before the presidential elections – so the Head of State simply faced the fact,” he explained. “The last echelon with the Topol missile system left the territory of Belarus in November 1996. I witnessed the withdrawal of the remaining parts of Russian nuclear weapons."

The Special Envoy added that, even before the presidential elections, an agreement had been signed envisaging the necessity to destroy the storages of nuclear missiles. "The mines should have been blown up. A mine collapsed after the first explosion, and ecology-related problems emerged: the forest was destroyed and the soil was damaged on a fairly large territory. The President then made a decision: not to blow up mines anymore, but to preserve them. Therefore, all the mines where intercontinental ballistic missiles were placed, except one, have been preserved in Belarus," he said.

“As far as I remember, a tank repair plant in Borisov worked in two or three shifts. I went there and reported to the President that the equipment was really in a very good condition. However, that equipment was being cut into metal pieces and exported to the West,” Mr. Sheiman noted, adding that he asked to preserve repair kits at the plant so that Belarusian equipment could be mended. After that, the President went to the factory and instructed to stop destroying equipment and weapons.

Some of the planes, tanks, and infantry fighting vehicles were lost, but many pieces have been saved. To this day, this equipment (along with modern weapons) ensures the military security of Belarus.