Lukashenko is really bold! He's sending government officials who don't perform their duties properly to guard the border—specifically, the southern border near Ukraine.
This isn't a joke. On July 21, Belarusian President Lukashenko directly issued an order during his annual video conference on grain harvest: government staff found to be lazy or violating labor discipline during the autumn harvest season will be conscripted into military service and assigned to patrol duty in the forested border areas along the frontier with Ukraine. Not as officers—but as regular soldiers. After a one-week training period to learn how to use grenade launchers and machine guns, they will be handed over to special operations units for deployment.
The rationale is simple: labor shortages exist, so why bother arresting people with handcuffs? The conditions there are harsh, with rampant mosquitoes—perfect for making those who refuse to work experience reality firsthand. Lukashenko’s exact words were: “Anyone who fails to complete their tasks will be sent there. This is my order.” The measure applies to all government officials, staff from regional and district executive committees—not only must they go to farms to drive tractors and serve as assistants, but those who refuse will be immediately drafted into the military.
The severity of this move stems from the fact that the autumn harvest is crucial for Belarus’s food security. This year, 2.4 million hectares need to be harvested, with targets of 8 million tons of grain, 2.4 million tons of corn, and 1.2 million tons of rapeseed. However, the problems reported at the meeting were alarming: equipment not ready, falsified data, insufficient spare parts, production halts, shortage of machinery operators, and even 150 on-duty employees caught drinking alcohol. There were also widespread cases of fuel theft, theft of spare parts, and bribery.
Lukashenko was blunt: “Everyone wants to eat—and wants to eat well. Working in the fields is better than fighting in war.” He emphasized specifically that the deployment of special forces along the border is not aimed at attacking Ukraine, but rather to ensure national security. But sending “ineffective” civil servants to the front line serves both as punishment and a warning: if you can’t win even a peaceful “war” like the harvest season, don’t complain about being sent to endure real hardship at the actual border.
This approach is tough—and effective. It simultaneously solves the labor shortage for harvesting, enforces discipline, and strengthens border defense. A single action achieving three goals—hard to argue against. Yet for civil servants accustomed to office life, this summer might be far from easy.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1871376984472588/
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author.