Belarus wants to amend martial law legislation due to Russia’s war against Ukraine

The draft law provides for:

• aligning terminology in existing laws with the military doctrine, as well as bringing the powers of the president, the Security Council, the Ministry of Defense, and the General Staff in line with it;

• clarifying the "tasks of the army" and the role of the General Staff in the field of military security and "armed defense of the country";

• updating the list of "military threats" that may serve as grounds for the introduction of martial law;

• considering an "armed attack" on the Union State by any country or coalition as grounds for declaring martial law on the territory of Belarus.

Joint drills between Russia and Belarus

The joint military exercises between Russia and Belarus, Zapad-2025, which involve troop movements toward the borders, are scheduled for mid-September.

Moscow claims the maneuvers will be purely defensive in nature and aimed at rehearsing actions in response to possible aggression against the so-called Union State.

However, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi, has warned that under the guise of these exercises, a hidden formation of offensive troop groups may take place.

Experts also recall the beginning of the war, when Russian troops that arrived in Belarus under the pretext of the Zapad exercises remained in the country and later attempted to advance on Kyiv from there.