Belarus announced on Tuesday a plan to send poorly performing workers during the harvest season to guard the border near Ukraine.
Russian state media RIA Novosti, citing a report from Belarusian state news agency BelTA, said Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko conveyed the message during a conference call to discuss the 2026 harvest campaign.
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Lukashenko said he instructed Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin to carry out the tasks accordingly.
“Why should we put handcuffs on people when we have a personnel shortage? Ask Khrenin, convey my instructions to him: Everyone who doesn’t know how to work – into the army and to the southern border. Into the forest,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying.
“Our guys, special operations forces, are dispersed along the Ukrainian border on my orders,” he added.
Despite earlier reports of Russia attempting to drag Minsk into the war in Ukraine, Lukashenko ruled out potential conflicts with neighboring countries before adding that anyone failing to carry out their official duties should be sent to the army.
“Any official, in the government, regional executive committee, or district executive committee, should be sent to the farm to operate a tractor or a combine,” he said.
“Anyone who fails to carry orders should be sent to the army. Let them serve there. They can sit in the forest. They need personnel there too. Let them serve there during the harvest season. Both officials and those who don’t want to work,” he added.
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According to BelTA, Lukashenko’s defense minister Khrenin on Wednesday said he would identify ways to implement the Belarusian leader’s vision.
“I reported on how the head of state’s instruction will be carried out. Military commissars will now join this effort, and will soon meet with local authorities to determine the algorithm of actions,” Khrenin said.
The order appears to form Minsk’s wider push to secure a bountiful harvest in 2026.
In another BelTA news update, the news agency said multiple government institutions have formed a working group to “identify possible factors in the regions that could limit or slow down the progress of the 2026 harvest campaign.”
“Combine harvesters, tractors, and grain drying systems must be in good working order, and qualified personnel must be assigned to each piece of equipment,” Lukashenko was quoted as saying.
Lukashenko’s reign is often referred to as “the last dictatorship in Europe” by Western media, with his 30-year rule that officially began in 1994 marred by an endless stream of human rights abuse allegations and political oppression.
He also has been known for his often bizarre statements. In 2012, he said it’s “better to be a dictator than gay” in response to Western categorization of his regime as being a dictatorship.
Lukashenko’s latest order to send poorly performing workers to the army also echoed his controversial “parasite tax” on the unemployed population, which was later suspended before being reintroduced in an altered form.
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