Editing Armed Forces of Belarus (section)

==History==
[[File:Жаўнеры Беларускага асобнага батальёна са сцягам.jpg|thumb|left|Soldiers of the Belarusian Battalion within the [[Lithuanian Armed Forces]] 1919]]
The [[Belarusian People's Republic]] of March 1918 to 1919 did not have time to create [[armed forces]] in its brief existence, although attempts to create a military have been documented.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.radabnr.org/en/bibliographyen.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927162702/http://www.radabnr.org/en/bibliographyen.htm|url-status=dead|title=Selected Bibliography of works on the struggle for Belarusian Independence 1900–1921 in the Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library in London|archive-date=September 27, 2013|access-date=May 22, 2020}}</ref>

Until 1991, the Soviet [[Belorussian Military District]] comprised the [[5th Guards Tank Army]] (HQ Bobruisk), the [[7th Tank Army]] (HQ Borisov), the [[28th Army (Soviet Union)|28th Army]] (HQ Grodno), the [[120th Guards Mechanised Brigade|120th Guards Motor Rifle Division]], the [[72nd Guards Joint Training Centre|72nd Guards District Training Center]] and logistical units and formations. Additionally, the Belorussian SSR hosted the [[103rd Guards Airborne Division]], the [[38th Guards Mobile Brigade|38th Guards Airborne Brigade]], the 11th Air Defence Corps of the [[2nd Air Defence Army]], and the [[26th Air Army]], as well as units and formations of the [[Strategic Rocket Forces]], [[Long Range Aviation]], the Navy, and special forces.

In late 1991 the 5th Guards Tank Army comprised the [[55th Guards Rifle Division|30th Guards Motor Rifle Division]], newly arrived [[Central Group of Forces|from Czechoslovakia]], and the [[193rd Tank Division]], plus two armament and equipment storage bases (the former 8th Guards and 29th Tank Divisions), and army troops. The 7th Tank Army comprised the [[3rd Guards Tank Division]], [[34th Tank Division|34th]], and [[37th Guards Tank Division]]s, plus army troops. The 28th Army comprised two divisions, the 6th Guards Tank and 50th Guards Motor Rifle, the 6314th Equipment Storage Base at [[Slonim]], and the 5356th Base for Storage of Weapons and Equipment, formerly a low-status mobilisation division.<ref>Michael Holm, [https://www.ww2.dk/new/army/td/76td.htm 76th Tank Division]</ref> Also arriving from the [[Southern Group of Forces]] in Hungary was the [[19th Guards Tank Division]].

On September 20, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of Belarus passed resolution "On the formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus" and on January 11, 1992, resolution "On the Armed Forces deployed in the territory of the Republic of Belarus." On March 18, 1992, the parliament passed resolution "On the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus" that bound the government "to start the formation of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus as of March 20, 1992" and "to submit to the Supreme Soviet for approval the suggested structure of the Armed Forces, their size and order of their material and technical supplies".

On May 6, 1992, the [[Belorussian Military District]] was abolished. The Belarusian Ministry of Defence and the Main Staff were formed from its resources.<ref>I N Rodionov, ed, Belorusskiy voyennyy okrug, Military Encyclopedia, t1, "Voyennoye izdatel'stvo", Moscow, 1997, 422, cited in Main, 2003, 6.</ref> The former first deputy commander and military district Chief of Staff, Lieutenant-General Pavel Kozlovskiy, was appointed Minister of Defence on 22 April 1992, taking over from acting Minister of Defence Colonel-General Petr Chaus. On 8 September 1992, the Minsk Higher Military Engineering School and the Minsk Higher Military Command School (now the unified [[Military Academy of Belarus]]) were the first to take the military oath of allegiance to the armed forces, with their induction ceremony being held on [[Independence Square, Minsk|Independence Square]] in the presence of defense minister Kozlovskii.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/_lMs_c10EUc Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200505211922/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lMs_c10EUc Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_lMs_c10EUc| title = Присяга на Площади Независимости! Минск 06 сентября 1992 г. | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://charter97.org/ru/news/2017/9/8/262281/|title = День, когда Площадь была заполнена солнцем и народом}}</ref> This was done to commemorate anniversary of the Lithuanian-Polish victory at the [[Battle of Orsha]], which was considered to be a Day of Belarusian Military Glory.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://charter97.org/ru/news/2017/9/8/262248/|title = Белорусские офицеры присягнули на верность Родине}}</ref>

On August 17, 1992, personnel from the [[United States Department of Defense]] made a [[Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty]] inspection of an installation in Urechye (near Minsk). The 969th Central Base for Reserve Tanks, and two elements of the [[30th Guards Motor Rifle Division]]: the 30th Guards Tank Regiment and the 20th independent Reconnaissance Battalion were the three units at the site.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Harahan |first1=Joseph P. |last2=Kuhn |first2=John C. |title=On-Site Inspections Under the CFE Treaty, A History of the On-Site Inspection Agency and CFE Treaty Implementation, 1990-1996 (Chapter 6) |url=https://nuke.fas.org/control/cfe/cfebook/ch6f.html |access-date=2022-04-24 |website=nuke.fas.org}}</ref>

On November 3, 1992, Belarus passed the law "On the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus" defining the status, structure and guiding principles of the Armed Forces.<ref>{{cite web|author=Pavel Bykovsky & Alexander Vasilevich|title=Military Development and the Armed Forces of Belarus |url=http://mdb.cast.ru/mdb/5-2001/dp/mdafb/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205143656/http://mdb.cast.ru/mdb/5-2001/dp/mdafb/ |archive-date=2007-12-05}}, Moscow Defence Brief, CAST, 2007</ref> After the introduction of presidency the law was amended twice: on September 4, 1996, and on November 9, 1999, but on the whole the law retains its initial contents.

On January 1, 1993, all service personnel on Belarusian soil were required to either take an [[oath of loyalty]] to Belarus, or leave. This oath however did not alleviate concerns regarding loyalty to Russia in time of crisis, especially since nearly 50% of all military personnel were ethnically Russian in the end of 1992.

In June 1995, President Alexander Lukashenko issued a decree on the Mobile Forces. By June 1996, they comprised a headquarters in Vitebsk, two brigades drawn from the 103rd Guards Airborne Division, the 38th Independent Mobile Brigade ([[Brest, Belarus]]), an air transport regiment, and communications, logistics, and engineer units.<ref>Richard Woff, 'Minsk: making limited progress with reform,' [[Jane's Intelligence Review]], June 1996, 248.</ref>

Membership in the [[Commonwealth of Independent States]], as well as the 1996 treaty on the [[Union of Russia and Belarus]] and the Treaty of the Formation of a Union State in 1999, confirmed a close partnership with Russia. Much of the air defence system was integrated into the Russian air defence network, and in 2006 the two nations signed an agreement on the creation of a unified air defence system.<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2006/russia-061019-rianovosti02.htm Russia, Belarus to sign agreement on joint air defence system] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212071536/http://www.globalsecurity.org/wmd/library/news/russia/2006/russia-061019-rianovosti02.htm |date=2009-02-12 }}, [[RIA Novosti]] via GlobalSecurity.org, 19 October 2006.</ref>