Belarusian "people's Militias" Drew Ridicule On Social Media

• 23.07.2026, 13:12

A photo that speaks volumes.

The Main Directorate of Internal Affairs of the Minsk City Executive Committee published a photo report from a special training session for leaders and candidates for the People’s Militia units, which took place at the Minsk OMON base — and almost immediately, the photos went viral on social media, sparking a wave of jokes.

Participants in the training “familiarized themselves with the equipment and weapons of the Minsk police,” learned basic methods for countering UAVs, refreshed their first-aid skills, and practiced handling weapons, apprehending offenders, and conducting searches.

However, social media users were impressed not so much by the training process itself as by the expressions on the “militiamen’s” faces in the photos—despondency and resignation are far more evident there than a fighting spirit. It was precisely this discrepancy between the Metropolitan Police Department’s grandiose rhetoric and the participants’ frankly sour expressions that sparked a wave of ironic comments: Followers are joking en masse that the enthusiasm in the photos is practically zero, and that the “people’s” militia looks more like a chore than a voluntary effort.