The press service of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic reported that Moscow and Minsk plan to conduct joint tactical flight exercises on the territory of Belarus.
“A joint tactical flight exercise is planned to improve the level of combat training of aviation units of the armed forces of the Republic of Belarus and Russia, which is part of the aviation component of the RGV (C). said the ministry.
The military formation of the aviation and space forces from the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation will participate in this exercise. The Belarusian ministry noted that the units of the Russian Armed Forces continue to come to the training areas, and it is planned to carry out combat coordination activities with them.
“As part of ensuring the military security of the State of the Union, the formation of regional power grouping continues. According to the current situation, this process works in stages.
In addition, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic reminded that a joint grouping was formed “with the aim of strengthening the security and defense of the State of the Union, based on the current situation near our borders.” They stressed that the preparation of the group was complex and affected their support systems.
Valery Revenko, head of the international military cooperation department of the Belarusian Ministry of Defense, said on Twitter that the exercises of the regional unity grouping are not aimed at third countries. According to him, the air component will be “increased” to conduct tactical flight exercises.
NATO response
On December 22, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova described a regional deployment of Russian-Belarusian troops as a response to the build-up of NATO forces in Poland and the Baltic states.
“As for the deployment of additional troops since October… They should be seen as a symmetrical response to the emerging military-political situation in the region, namely the build-up and ongoing pumping of NATO military forces in Poland and the Baltic states. only militants, mercenaries,
Zakharova said during the briefing.
In October 2022, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced that he had agreed with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the use of a regional group of troops, due to the aggravation of the situation on the western borders of the Union State. The Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus later noted that the group would include a little under 9,000 Russian troops. It is also planned to arrive about 170 tanks, up to 200 combat armored vehicles and up to 100 guns and mortars with a caliber of over 100 millimeters.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu also reported that Moscow and Minsk have been conducting combat coordination between the formations and units of the troop group since October 22.
The Minister of Defense of the Republic of Belarus Khrenin also announced in October that, if necessary, up to half a million soldiers can be recruited into the armed forces of the republic, as well as the arrival of the Russian Iskander missile systems and S-. 400 Triumph anti-aircraft missile systems in the Belarusian troops. On 19 December, Lukashenka announced that the S-400s and Iskanders were on combat duty in Belarus.
According to Khrenin, although there are no signs of aggression from Western states, there is a possible possibility of intervention by troops stationed near the Belarusian borders. “This is confirmed by the unprecedented increase in the presence of American and NATO military formations in the Eastern European region,” said the Belarusian defense minister.
“Forcing” a special operation
Immediately after the announcement of the creation of a joint troop group, rumors arose that Belarus was “forced” to participate in the Russian special operation in Ukraine. In particular, it was reported that Russian President Vladimir Putin came to Minsk on 19 December for this purpose.
In December, German government spokesman Steffen Hebestreit said Berlin was concerned about the Russian leader’s visit because of a possible change in Belarus’ position regarding the NWO in Ukraine. Moscow denied this information.
“As for absolutely stupid fabrications, baseless fabrications,” Dmitry Peskov, the press secretary of the Russian president, answered a question from journalists about the attitude to this type of reasoning.
At a meeting on December 19, Putin and Lukashenko discussed cooperation along the military line, but the possible participation of Belarus in the NWO was not reported. The main topic of the meeting between the two leaders was energy.