Lukashenko reportedly conducting 'covert mobilization' in Belarus

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has decided to conduct a “covert mobilization,” according to the Belarusian newspaper Nasha Niva. Citing anonymous sources, the outlet reported that the president plans to disguise the draft campaign as a “combat capability check,” and that the first stage of the operation will only affect the rural population.

Lukashenko decided not to announce the mobilization publicly after seeing the consequences of Putin’s draft announcement in Russia, Nasha Niva said.

How many people will be conscripted is unknown. An officer from the Belarusian Armed Forces told the newspaper that if less than 2,000 people are recruited, that will indicate that the campaign’s goal is to “retrofit individual units” for “narrow combat missions” such as artillery operations. But if the number of conscripts exceeds 5,000, he added, “it will be time to sound the alarm.”

Russia's draft officials: incompetent or indifferent?

Since Russia's mobilization drive began, draftees have complained of abysmal living conditions and severe supply shortages. One video showed future soldiers being told to collect tampons and menstrual pads to use as tourniquets on the battlefield.