Russian servicemen who arrived in Belarus as part of forming a regional group of forces will carry out battalion tactical exercises, Russia’s news agency Interfax reports, citing the Russian Defence Ministry.
After the exercises, the command will provide a “final review of the divisions’ combat effectiveness and preparedness”. The Russian ministry said that soldiers at Belarusian training grounds would “continue the course of intense combat training”.
“Drills on combat training and combat coordination of the Western Military District divisions take place during the day and night,” Russia’s Defence Ministry states.
The ministry previously reported that Russian tank operators, gunners, signal troops soldiers, electronic warfare specialists, engineers, and the special forces medical crew of the Western Military District had been training at Belarusian campgrounds.
In October, the chief of the Belarusian Ministry of Defence Department for International Military Cooperation, Valery Revenka, said that almost 9,000 Russian soldiers would form part of the regional group of forces in Belarus.
On 3 December, Alyaksandar Lukashenka met with Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu and said: “Today, we prepare as a joint group of forces, a joint army. Everyone knows this. We’ve never hidden [this fact].”
