Weakened Russian Military Turning to 'Inferior' Belarusian Trainers: U.K.

The British Ministry of Defense (MOD) in a Thursday intelligence update said the "likely use" of Belarusian instructors by Russian President Vladimir Putin's military to train troops is a sign that Moscow is experiencing a deficit of its own trainers.

The MOD also offered an explanation for why Russia's training staff may be depleted. In its assessment, the ministry wrote "many" Russian military trainers are "deployed in Ukraine or have become casualties."

The United Kingdom's intelligence report added that while Russia and Belarus "prominently publicize" Russian units deployed in Belarus, the training measures implemented by Belarusian instructors of Russian troops have been more covert. The MOD wrote that the armed forces of Belarus have taken on a "significant, but more discreet role in training thousands of newly mobilized Russian reservists."

Russia has been beleaguered with reports of its troops not being properly trained since at least the summer. Last month, an assessment by the MOD characterized Russian forces as being ill-prepared for combat and said draftees had complained about a lack of equipment.

The new evaluation from the MOD indicated Belarusian trainers are not seen as the optimal option for Moscow, as Russian instructors are generally viewed as being superior to their Belarusian counterparts.

"Although Russia and Belarus have an extensive background of military co-operation, the training of mobilized Russian personnel by Belarusians represents a role reversal," the report said. "Belarusian forces have traditionally been considered by Russia as inferior to Russian forces and their employment as trainers is an indication of overstretch within the Russian military system."

The MOD posted its intelligence report regarding Belarusian trainers and Russia days after Putin met with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko in Minsk, Belarus. The Monday meeting between the leaders came after recent speculation that Belarus could possibly become directly involved in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Lukashenko has long been one of Putin's closest allies, and has publicly supported the Russian president ever since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in late February. The Belarusian leader has also granted Russian troops access into Ukraine from the Belarus-Ukraine border, which allows for closer access to Kyiv.

"Strengthening Belarusian-Russian ties has become a natural response to the changing situation in the world, in which our strength has constantly been tested," Lukashenko said during the meeting with Putin, according to the Russian state news agency TASS. "I believe that, despite some rough spots, we are still able to find effective responses to various challenges and threats."

TASS reported that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said "military issues" would be one of the topics of discussion during the meeting. However, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said earlier this month that Belarus remains "extraordinarily unlikely" to join the Ukraine war.

"Belarus lacks capabilities to produce its own armored fighting vehicles making the transfer of this equipment to Russian forces both a current and a likely long-term constraint on Belarusian material capacities [to] commit mechanized forces to the fighting in Ukraine," the ISW, a U.S.-based think tank, wrote in a December 11 report.

Meanwhile, the ISW reported this week that Russia is facing training difficulties "because the Kremlin deployed training elements to participate in combat in Ukraine and these training elements reportedly took causalities." Like the MOD's intelligence report, the ISW said Belarus has been aiding in Russian troop training.

"Russia is reportedly leveraging Belarusian trainers to train mobilized forces and possibly contract soldiers and conscripts, indicating the limitations of Russian training bandwidth," the ISW report from Wednesday read. "Russia's officer corps has been eviscerated by casualties in this war."

Newsweek reached out to the ministries of defense for Belarus and Russia for comment.