Belarus, Russia preparing for joint military drills set for 2023

November 2, BPN. Minsk and Moscow have started preparations for Union Shield 2023, a joint military exercise, Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin told the joint board of the defense ministries of Belarus and Russia.

He described the drills as next year’s main training event for Belarus and Russia.

Chrenin lamented the “unjustified militarization” of NATO’s eastern flank along with an increased number of NATO operational and combat training activities in the region. Russia and Belarus experience “pressure and hybrid influence,” while “the [NATO] military infrastructure is being actively improved,” he was quoted as saying by the defense ministry’s press office.

His announcement comes days after Alaksandr Łukašenka signed an edict approving a draft agreement with Russia on setting up new joint military training centers in Belarus and Russia.

Since October 15, Russia has been redeploying troops and aviation to Belarus as part of a joint regional group with the Belarusian army. Łukašenka said the move was in response to “a build-up on the Union state’s western borders.”

Russian troops that had massed in Belarus in February 2022 under the guise of military drills participated in the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.