A plenary session of the 1st
Youth Military-Patriotic Forum was held in Minsk’s military unit 3214 on December 9th, and Belarus’ Deputy Interior Minister and Commander of the Internal Troops Nikolai Karpenkov addressed young people with a speech: Military-Patriotic Clubs as System of Comprehensive Development, Moral and Patriotic Education of Children and Youth
Mr. Karpenkov noted that some forces abroad are actively trying to influence the situation in Belarus. “If you want to defeat the enemy, raise their children. This is exactly what our enemies have been trying to do for many years,” he stated, focusing on a number of examples: the belittling of people in uniform after the USSR collapse, the imposition of the Western education system, the creation of numerous funds through which billions of Dollars were poured into the promotion of Western values, violent attempts to destroy our cultural traditions and national identity, the rewriting of history, the denial of the genocide of the Belarusian people and the detraction of the heroic deeds of our ancestors.
“The opponents have been trying to influence our children for a long time, sparing no effort or money, using modern technologies and social networks,” the Commander of the Internal Troops emphasised. “They are introducing alien values and norms of behaviour, promoting destructive ideology, massively distorting historical facts and the image of our state. They want brainwashed leaders who support the so-called Western rules and values and who do not know true history to come to power tomorrow.”
According to Mr. Karpenkov, awareness of the seriousness of the situation that developed in 2020 prompted the country’s leadership and the Interior Ministry to identify military-patriotic education of young people as one of the key areas of activity.
“At the moment, 207 military-patriotic clubs operate in the Interior Ministry system. There are 23 clubs in the Internal Troops, and the number of boys and girls who attend them has exceeded 2.7 thousand. The children are provided with everything they need, including uniforms, training weapons, and camping equipment,” the Deputy Interior Minister said.
