April 10, Pozirk. The 120th Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade stationed in Baranavičy, Brest region, has begun drills in five districts to practice new ways of using Buk surface-to-air missile systems, the defense ministry said.
The announcement comes one day after the 19th Detached Guards Mechanized Brigade was deployed to training grounds in four regions for three-day live-fire training observed by Defense Minister Viktar Chrenin.
The country’s defense ministry described the activities as a key stage of a comprehensive combat readiness exercise being conducted since March 11 in response to NATO’s Steadfast Defender.
The two-day anti-aircraft units’ drill involves a large number of reservists, said Andrej Łukjanovič, commander of the Belarusian Air/Air Defense Forces, without specifying any numbers.
It will focus on repelling enemy air attacks, shooting down drones, protecting troops on the ground and countering enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups.
Visiting the western city of Hrodna on April 2, Alaksandar Łukašenka said his government was “preparing for a war,” and accused NATO neighbors of increasing spending on offensive weapons.
Steadfast Defender is NATO’s 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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