Armed Forces of Belarus

The Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus are the national military of Belarus, organised under the Ministry of Defence and made up of the Ground Forces and the Air Force and Air Defence Forces, with a Special Operations Forces component and territorial and transport formations. Because Belarus is landlocked it has no navy, although it holds a few small river and lake vessels inherited from the Soviet Union. The force was formed after independence: the Supreme Soviet passed a resolution on its formation in September 1991 and set formation to begin from 20 March 1992. Most soldiers are conscripts serving eighteen months, and the force keeps many Soviet-era laws and a large reserve. Since the 2010s it has trained in close integration with the Russian Armed Forces.