The Belarusian Ministry of Defence (MoD) has confirmed that the military forces of Belarus and Russia are set to conduct a series of live-fire exercises.
Citing a report by Russian news agency Interfax, a Reuters report has claimed the bilateral exercises will be conducted as part of a joint grouping pact between the two countries.
The participating forces will also carry out several ‘anti-aircraft guided missile launches’ during the exercises, which will take place in Belarus.
The country is a close Russian ally and has extended political and logistical support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Interfax quoted an undisclosed Minsk defence official saying: “Military units from the formations are planned to be deployed at four training ranges of the Republic of Belarus in the eastern and the central part of the country, after which they will start conducting combat training activities.”
The new agency noted that the Belarusian MoD said that the Russian military troops will be deployed in Belarus from a ‘new regional grouping’.
Last month, Belarus took part in the Russian military’s strategic command post exercise Vostok 2022.
It involved the participation of nearly 50,000 personnel, 140 aircraft, 60 naval vessels, and more than 5,000 weapons and equipment.
The latest iteration of exercise aimed to hone the skills of the participating forces and commanders to bolster interoperability among the coalition troops for safeguarding common interests and strengthen military security in the eastern region.
The exercise was held in Russia’s Eastern Military District from 30 August to 5 September.
Apart from Belarus, Vostok joint military exercise involved the participation of forces from India, Mongolia, China and Tajikistan.
