On Tuesday, Russia’s Deputy Minister of Defence Colonel-General Alexander Fomin confirmed that Russian troops and equipment has begun arriving in the former Soviet state of Belarus for the upcoming “Allied Resolve” drills set to take place in February.
In a Defence Ministry statement, Fomin said that the purpose of the joint drills is to prepare Russian and Belarusian troops to suppress and repel “external aggression” in combat situations. Troops will also learn counter-terrorism tactics and drills that focus on “protecting the interests of the Union State.” “A situation may arise when forces and means of the regional group of forces will be insufficient to ensure reliable security of the Union State, and we must be ready to strengthen it,” Fomin said, adding that Moscow, in agreement with Minsk, deemed it necessary to put forward an “entire military potential” for the upcoming military drills.
Fomin mentioned that transportation of all the troops and equipment will carry on till February 9, after which Russia-Belarus joint military drills will take place between February 10 and February 20. Fomin did not specify the exact number of troops that will be involved in the drills. As a part of the military exercise, Russia will relocate a dozen Su-35 fighter jets, two divisions of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system and the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and a gun company to Belarusian territory. All these moves further intensify tensions with Kyiv since Russia has already amassed 100,000 troops along the Ukrainian border.
Belarus’ Defence Ministry said that the purpose of the combat readiness drills is to deal with military “aggravation” at its western and southern borders. on Monday, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the Allied Resolve drills would be perfect to “confront Western powers” like Poland and Ukraine.
On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry announced that it was taking measures to beef up the country’s efforts to form reserve battalions with the aim to add 130,000 recruits to Ukraine’s 246,000 strong army. Also, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK) have made military commitments to Ukraine recently, in a display of the West’s commitment towards Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity and also to thwart Russian aggression.
Russia and Belarus enjoy strong military ties and have previously conducted large-scale war games. Last September, Moscow and Minsk conducted extensive military exercises involving 200,000 troops. A month later, Lukashenko even offered to host Russian nuclear warheads if the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) moved similar US equipment to Eastern Europe. The US and its European allies have raised concerns about a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine via Belarus.