Russian generals want to deploy missiles and bombers in Belarus

After menacing but rather loose statements of the Kremlin on readiness to give an “adequate asymmetric” answer to possible deployment of US anti-missile systems in the Central Europe, variants of hypothetical responses appeared. Belarus is mentioned in a number of them.

According to general-major Viktar Esin, first vice president of the Academy of Security, Defense Law Order and Problems, deployment of Iskander-M missiles, able to hit anti-missile elements in the Czech Republic may be discussed. He thinks another possible response is using of air base Machulishchy (near Minsk) for strategic bomber aircrafts. Finally, the general found it necessary to remind that Topol mobile missiles were deployed in Belarus in the Soviet Times.

Though Russia and Belarus signed numerous military contracts, this readiness to use territory of a foreign country to solve one’s own security problems arouse, to put it mildly, bewilderment. For example, the Czech Republic and Poland as well as the United States are NATO members. However, long negotiations were conducted with them on a similar purpose, moreover negotiations with Warsaw are far from the end. Besides, positions of the sides and concrete conditions of contracts are open to the public there, “BDG” newspaper notes.

It is beyond the question that an objective of such statements is to make the Europeans be nervous about their participating in anti-missile systems. However, this clamor pursues another, absolutely propagandist, aim - to demonstrate the population of the country that “Russia is getting up from knees”.