“Here, as in many spheres of life in Belarus, the approach decides everything. Even European Union military experts admit that at low cost, we have one of the most efficient armies on the continent”.

In her loud statement about the combat effectiveness of the Belarusian army, an employee of Lukashenka’s TV channel refers to “European Union military experts”.

In the Global Firepower 2022 ranking, Belarus with its army ranks only 52nd out of 142 armies of the world.

ICDS generally believes that it is not Lukashenka's army that can do the most good, but the territory of Belarus.

“The BAF (Belarusian Armed Forces) are constrained by underinvestment, low manning levels, and mostly Soviet-legacy hardware. In wartime, they can mobilise significant numbers of reservists to man existing units and generate additional units, but perhaps their most important contribution would be their ability to serve as a logistics hub and host nation to sustain the war effort of Russian Armed Forces on Belarusian territory”, the ICDS publication says.