‘There will be no country without rural development, as villages are the foundation’

The President of Belarus, Aleksandr Lukashenko, has held a meeting in Shklov on the development of agricultural production in Shklov and Orsha districts

Before the discussion, the Head of State recalled that a rural revival programme had for the first time been adopted in Belarus, “It was actually a village rescue programme, and its origins were rooted in the first programme of the future President entitled Leading People Away from the Abyss.”
According to Aleksandr Lukashenko, a simple life-guided task was then in focus: to provide people with food and clothes. Instead of money, everyone had numerous coupons, but it was difficult to buy something using them. At that time, the state did not follow the lead of market liberals, did not cut the land into pieces and did not give it into private hands. “We adopted that programme and created a serious basis for the development of agriculture,” Aleksandr Lukashenko noted. “We took our people away from the abyss, provided them with food and clothes.”
It would seem that it was possible to stop on that, but the Head of State has always had a strategic vision.

“There will be no country without rural development — neither ours, nor Russia, nor Ukraine,” the President stressed. “The village is the foundation, and we should take another step towards the development of agricultural production now,” the Belarusian leader underlined. 

At the meeting, Aleksandr Lukashenko has outlined a number of tasks for representatives of the agro-industrial complex. The Head of State noted that all heads of agricultural enterprises of Orsha and Shklov districts had been invited to participate in the meeting, “It is necessary to discuss the issues in detail and make final decisions. There should be a return from what has been injected. There should be no mistakes, since much money was invested. Technological and performance discipline is the key point. Before asking for money, show that each invested rouble will give ten roubles in revenue.”
In this regard, the President outlined a number of priority areas in the development of the industry, “Firstly, the integration of agricultural producers needs to be continued, and large companies with a full production cycle should be created in the areas they are in need. Secondly, enlargement should take place on the basis of strong farms with a clear and understandable specialisation — to set an example. Thirdly, transformations should be implemented in strict compliance with all technologies, a well-developed raw material base and consistent discipline.”
Aleksandr Lukashenko added that not only the chairmen of district executive committees, but also the governors will bear responsibility for the result, “Specific officials from executive committees, ministries, the Government, the President Administration, the Property Management Directorate and the Academy of Sciences should be assigned for each event, organisation, field, farm and other objects of the programme.”

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President announced destruction of air targets flying from Ukraine over the territory of Belarus and Russia

On Saturday, President of Belarus Aleksandr Lukashenko continued his working trip to Mogilev Region, and the issues of effective development of agricultural production were the focus of his attention. In particular, at a meeting in the agro-town of Gorodishche, the problem of financial recovery of agricultural organisations was discussed on the example of the Kupalovskoye Holding. 
However, prior to the study of the prescheduled topic of conversation, the Commander-in-Chief commented on an incident related to the violation of Belarus' airspace by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“Yesterday [August 9th] at 06.10pm, the Air Force and Air Defence Forces of Belarus were put on high alert: we call it 'number one readiness'. Not for the first time, the Armed Forces of Ukraine broke all rules of conduct and violated the airspace of the Republic of Belarus: in the eastern direction, in the area of Kostyukovichi District. The Air Defence Forces were put on combat-ready alert to intercept the targets. There were about a dozen of the latter. Planes and a helicopter took off. In addition, the MLRS complexes were put on combat-ready alert. At 07:04pm, the Air Defence Forces destroyed several targets over the territory of Belarus, at an altitude of 1.5km and a range of 6.5km. The rest went under the control of the Russian Federation (we have a unified air defence system). As informed by Russia’s General Staff, the targets were destroyed near Yaroslavl,” the President said.
Aleksandr Lukashenko added that the search for the destroyed targets continues, “We suspect that those were attack drones, definitely flying from Ukraine. I do not understand why Ukraine needs this, so we should figure it out. We have clearly defined and informed them that we will respond to any provocation. Accordingly, the Defence Ministry and the General Staff of Belarus have been ordered to take appropriate measures in order to reliably ensure the security of our state.”
In connection with the incident, Aleksandr Lukashenko noted the high level of interaction with the Russian Air Defence Forces and the fact that all targets had been destroyed, both over the territory of Belarus and over the territory of Russia. “It is unpleasant that Ukrainians — and I have warned you of that many times — thus showing that they are not ready for any peace and continuing to escalate tensions. Two days ago, there was an attack in the Kursk direction, where they advanced several tens of kilometres. And here we have this provocation aimed at strikes against Russia,” the President added.
Aleksandr Lukashenko noted that the provocation would be widely discussed in the media, but — in order to avoid insinuations of various kinds — he decided to inform about it right now. “This shows once again that we need to work tirelessly on our land and to produce appropriate results so as to avoid the situation that is happening now in Ukraine,” the Head of State stressed.

Defence Minister on how Ukrainian air targets were destroyed over Belarus and Russia

Belarus’ Defence Ministry regards the incident related to the violation of Belarus' airspace by the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a provocation that created a threat to the republic’s security — as stated by the Defence Minister, Lieutenant General Viktor Khrenin.
“On August 9th, the air defence forces on duty noticed unidentified air objects flying from the territory of Ukraine in the direction of the Republic of Belarus,” Mr. Khrenin said. “In order to promptly prevent a possible violation of the state border in the airspace of the Republic of Belarus, designated forces and means were put on number one alert in a timely manner. After crossing the state border, the air targets were classified as unmanned aerial vehicles, and the command was given to destroy them. As a result of the actions of our combat crews, some of the air targets were destroyed. The others, which were outside the air defence zone, were taken under control by units of the radio engineering troops on duty to be further placed under the control of the Russian side.”
The Defence Minister disclosed the chronological order of events, “At 06.10pm, the flight of a group of targets from Ukraine towards the state border of the Republic of Belarus was registered by the on-duty forces of the radio engineering brigade. At 06.13pm, the air defence forces on duty were put on number one alert to deal with that group of targets in case of their violation of the state border. At 06.29pm, the crews of Su-30SM aircraft and Mi-24 helicopters on combat duty took off. At 06.58pm, the air targets were detected by means of an anti-aircraft missile regiment of the duty forces, they were tracked and identified as unmanned aerial vehicles. At 07.04pm, the targets were destroyed. The aerial vehicles outside the airspace of the Republic of Belarus were transferred under the control of Russia’s Air Defence Forces and means and were also destroyed.”
The Defence Ministry regards this fact as a provocation against the Republic of Belarus. “Taking into account the situation developing in Ukraine and Russia's Kursk Region, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces has instructed to strengthen the grouping of troops in the Gomel and Mozyr tactical areas in order to respond to any possible provocations. Military units of the special operations forces, ground and missile forces, including the Polonaise rocket systems and Iskander complexes, have been tasked with marching to designated areas. The forces and means of the anti-aircraft missile troops, radio engineering troops and aviation have also been enhanced. We are closely monitoring the situation and are ready to respond to any changes,” Mr. Khrenin stressed. 

Belarus has strongly protested to Ukraine in connection with the violation of the border by drones, sb.by reports with reference to the Belarusian Interior Ministry’s press service

“Charge d'Affaires of Ukraine in Belarus Olga Timush was summoned to the Foreign Ministry. A strong protest was expressed to the Ukrainian diplomat, and a corresponding note was handed over in connection with the violation of the border of the Republic of Belarus by a group of unmanned aerial vehicles launched from the territory of Ukraine,“ the Foreign Ministry said.

The Belarusian side demanded to take comprehensive measures to exclude similar incidents in the future, which could lead to further escalation of the situation in the region.

Ms. Tumash was warned that in case of a repeat of such provocations, the Belarusian side reserves the right to take retaliatory steps to protect its territory.
It was particularly pointed out that if the diplomatic mission of Ukraine in Belarus cannot influence the prevention of such provocations, the Belarusian side will raise the question of the expediency of its continued presence in Minsk.

Based on materials of sb.by and belta.by