Belarusians begin to receive summonses to military enlistment offices en masse

UKRAINSKA PRAVDA — THURSDAY, 30 JUNE 2022, 10:34

Belarus has started sending out mass summonses, ordering people to attend military enlistment offices and without specifying any reason.

Source: Belarusian publication "Zerkalo"

Details: Belarusians are complaining that summonses have been sent to those who work, and to those who are on unpaid leave, and even to those who are unfit for military service.

The summonses do not specify the reason for attending the military enlistment office. However, failure to appear is a criminal offence.

Those who go to the military enlistment offices are told that this is "just a training session to gather personnel for the formation of territorial defence in the event of a military threat."

The notices to attend are sent not only to men, but also to women.

The military enlistment offices reassure them, saying that "no-one is taking anyone to war." The reason for the gathering is given as "mobilisation exercises". In general, people eligible for military service have their credentials checked and are sent home.

What happened before:

• The Ministry of Defence of Belarus announced "mobilisation exercises" from 22 June to 1 July in Belarus’ Gomel Oblast, which borders Ukraine.
• On 26 June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Belarus was being drawn into the war more actively than at the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and that the Kremlin had already "decided everything".