Most likely, the equipment went to Russia not for modernization, but to war.
On October 20, 2022, Siarhei Saharuk, the head of the Department for the Development of Armament Systems of the Belarusian Armed Forces, spoke about the re-equipment of the Belarusian Armed Forces with new weapons. According to the official, the equipment is being upgraded also by modernizing it in Russia. Earlier, 2S3 Akatsiya howitzers, T-72 tanks, etc. underwent Russian modernization.
The official also spoke about the existing agreements with the Russian party on the modernization of military equipment for the Belarusian Armed Forces:
“According to the plan of representatives of the military department, the modernization will apply to armored vehicles – T-72 tanks and armored personnel carriers, as well as some vehicles.”
This particular equipment was supposed to be sent to Russia for modernization.
It is important to recall the context of the appearance of this statement. In early October 2022, there was information about the transfer of military equipment removed from storage by the Lukashenka regime to the Russian military. It is known about the transfer of more than 200 pieces of equipment, including T-72A tanks, BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and Ural vehicles. The list of equipment is almost identical to the one mentioned by the official of the Ministry of Defense.
The statement about the modernization of Ural trucks in Russia at first looked like an attempt to cover up the transfer of military equipment to the Russian Armed Forces. This was indicated by the following facts:
- Some of the military cargo trains with equipment went to the occupied territories of Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine. No comment here.
- Economic inexpediency of sending trucks to Russia for modernization. The military themselves are in charge of their repair, and new MAZ trucks are being actively transferred to the troops. But the Russian military don’t have enough trucks. Coincidence?
- In 2022, officials talked about the upcoming launch of serial modernization of T-72BM2 tanks, which will be cheaper than the Russian T-72B3. So why send the tanks to Russia for modernization?
As of December 4, the Ministry of Defense of Belarus didn’t show “modernized” tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and Ural trucks. Apparently, something went wrong with the “plan of representatives of the military department.” Something could have certainly been modernized in more than a year.
The latter circumstance only confirms that the equipment went to Russia not for modernization, but to war. And with a high probability, a part of it has already been utilized.
