Belarus to step up comprehensive drills – defense official

March 15, Pozirk. The ongoing comprehensive combat readiness drills “will be expanded,” said Viktar Hulevič, chief of staff and first deputy defense minister.

The 19th Detached Mechanized Brigade stationed in the Viciebsk region and several other units of the Western Operational Command are ready to join in, the defense ministry’s press office reported.

The drills will involve reservists, it added.

Servicemen will be preparing weapons, military and special equipment for use, loading supplies and equipment on vehicles, traveling to designated areas and getting ready for a series of exercises which may include live-fire training, Hulevič said.

Lithuanian military intelligence is monitoring activities of the Belarusian military near the shared border, but currently, there are no grounds for concerns, Delfi reported citing Lithuania’s defense ministry.

This is a routine drill divided into cycles of different exercises, it noted.  Increased activities are reportedly observed at all major Belarusian firing ranges and in the airspace.

The Belarusian Armed Forces launched the combat-readiness drill on March 11 in response to NATO’s Steadfast Defender, a multi-domain exercise, incorporating land, air, sea, cyber and space operations.

It involves deploying forces from North America and other parts of the Alliance to Europe. Over several months, complex multi-domain operations will be conducted across thousands of kilometers, thereby enhancing civil-military cooperation and national and collective resilience.

The exercise is strategically located in several key European countries, including Finland, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Events are taking place from late January to the end of May.

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Belarusian troops load heavy equipment on flatcars, destination unknown

March 12, Pozirk. Belarusian troops have loaded military equipment, including main battle tanks, on rail flatcars as part of the ongoing combat readiness drill, according to videos and statements posted by the defense ministry. The ministry would not specify whether the equipment …

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