The Armed Forces of Russia and Belarus have conducted joint training maneuvers on the Belarusian territory for the sake of practicing tactical elements, the use of weapons, as well as medical and engineering skills.
This was reported in a statement by the Russian Defense Ministry, detailing that the Russian and Belarusian military conducted an exercise on a training ground recapturing «a bridge controlled by a fictitious enemy,» Tass reported.
«At a training camp, the Belarusian and Russian servicemen had joint combat training to practice tactical elements, use of weapons, medical and engineering skills, as well as driving combat vehicles through difficult terrain,» the ministry has remonstrated.
Following the capture of the dummy bridge, troops from both countries have developed an offensive, «surrounding and destroying enemy troops.»
This joint Russian-Belarusian maneuver comes a day after the latter announced the cancellation of the security agreement signed with Ukraine that «allowed to control military activities at a distance of 80 kilometers» from the border.
Likewise, Belarusian authorities have recently reported the deployment of Russian equipment to Belarus in preparation for a possible offensive from its territory into Ukraine in the coming days. In addition, Minsk has also reportedly transferred troops to the border area with Ukraine in the south.
Russian President Vladimir Putin traveled last week to Belarus to meet with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who said after the meeting that Moscow and Minsk are ready to dialogue with Europe, which he appealed to «listen to the voice of reason». Belarus, an ally of Moscow, has allowed the deployment of military personnel on its territory to support the offensive.
In view of this, Ukraine has appealed to the population of the country to dismiss Russian propaganda» and to reject Russian information and accusations of a possible «invasion» from Belarusian territory.
«The answer to all this is easy, it is based on the readiness of our Armed Forces. Listen only to official spokesmen (…) The enemy wants to make us nervous in the run-up to the vacations, and we must not give him a chance to succeed,» Ukrainian presidential adviser Darina Zarivna said last week.
The Russian president ordered the start of the invasion of Ukraine days after recognizing the independence of the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, located in the Donbas region (east) and the scene of a conflict since 2014. Moscow announced in September the annexation of these regions and those of Kherson and Zaporiyia, partially occupied in the framework of the conflict.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
