MINSK. Feb 20 (Interfax) - The Belarusian General Staff has affirmed a high effectiveness of the Belarusian Armed Forces, including air defense.
"We have made a very serious step forward, not just a step forward but also a breakthrough in many areas. Clearly, that includes the military-technical area. As we can see, we now possess cutting-edge air defense systems, such as S-400 and Tor. The systems are being upgraded. Such as Buk, Osa and others. We are also witnessing the supplies of advanced tanks and combat vehicles," Belarusian General Staff faculty deputy head Andrei Bogodel said on the STV channel on Sunday.
Belarusian defense plants are ramping up their own designs, he said.
None of the neighbors has weapons like those in possession by Russia and Belarus, Bogodel said.
"The systems we have today, such as Polonez, are capable of precisely destroying the enemy's sites at top distances of 300 kilometers. [...] The emergence of such systems as Iskander allow us to say that we can strike the enemy on the entire range. Not just tactical or operative, but even the strategic range. I believe that many view this as a serious deterring factor," he said.
Battalion and tactical groups have been deployed to the borders of Belarus to protect it from the main "endangered directions," and the air defense network is fully operational, Bogodel said. "Several thousand men are on combat duty at all times," he said.
"There has been frequent talk about a possible use of nuclear weapons. Here is what I have to say. After all, our country is currently a non-nuclear power. This is what all our laws and regulations say. Still, I should mention that we have a Russian umbrella put up over us. The nuclear umbrella. So, we are not afraid of any bad weather of the kind," Bogodel said.