Leadership of military departments changed in Belarus

The Head of the State adopted a number of personnel decisions today. Minister of Defense Andrei Ravkov was appointed the State Secretary of the Security Council. The position was vacant for several weeks. Stanislav Zas, its former leader, has been heading the CSTO since January. Andrei Ravkov has been in charge of the Belarusian army for more than 5 years. He intends to improve the national security system on a new post.

The Ministry of Defense will be headed by Victor Khrenin, ex-commander of the Western Operational Command. Alexander Volfovich, the former first deputy chief of this department, was appointed the head of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

The President admits that the candidates for these positions have been considered for several months. The task of the new leaders is to raise the importance of the troops. Alexander Lukashenko drew attention to the need for effective interaction facilities of all structures of the power block.