Belarus, Russia to get started ‘defensive in nature’ air force drills | Army Information

The improved military action has elevated worry that Moscow might use its neighbour to mount a renewed ground offensive on Ukraine.

Belarus has claimed the joint air power drills it will get started with Russia on Monday are defensive in character, but the exercise routines are having put as fears improve that Moscow is pushing Minsk to be part of the war in Ukraine.

“The exercising is purely defensive in nature,” stated Pavel Muraveyko, very first deputy state secretary of the Belarusian Security Council, according to a put up on the Belarusian defence ministry’s Telegram application on Sunday.

“It will be a set of steps to get ready our and Russian aviation to carry out the pertinent battle missions.”

The workouts, which will carry on until eventually February 1, will entail instruction for “aerial reconnaissance, deflecting air strikes, air deal with of significant objects and communications”, Muraveyko included.

The construct-up of Russian troops in Belarus, combined with a flurry of military activity in the region, is an echo of developments just before Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine when Moscow made use of the nation as a springboard to launch the attack.

The most recent build-up has brought on fears in Kyiv and the West that Russia could be set to use Belarus to mount a new ground offensive on Ukraine.

Ukraine has repeatedly warned of achievable assaults from Belarus, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned very last week that the region ought to be completely ready at its border with Belarus.

The Kremlin has denied that it has been pressuring Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to acquire a more energetic position in the conflict in Ukraine. Minsk has reported it will not enter the war.

Given that the start out of the war, Belarus has executed a lot of navy routines, such as significant-scale complete drills in late August and a variety of smaller ones on its individual or jointly with Russia.

With each other with Moscow, Minsk has also been introducing weaponry and army products to the drills.

Unofficial Telegram military checking channels have been reporting a collection of fighters, helicopters and navy transportation planes coming to the state considering the fact that the get started of the calendar year — eight fighters and 4 cargo planes on Sunday on your own.

The Reuters news agency was not in a position to confirm the stories. The Belarusian defence ministry claimed only that “units” of Russia’s air drive have been arriving in Belarus.

“During the tactical flight physical exercise, all airfields and training grounds of the Air Pressure and Air Defence Forces of the Armed Forces of Belarus will be included,” the ministry said in a statement.

Muraveyko claimed the condition on the country’s southern border — the border with Ukraine — was “not quite quiet,” and that Ukraine has been “provoking” Belarus.

“We’re sustaining restraint and endurance, preserving our gunpowder dry,” Muraveyko reported. “We have the vital set of forces and means that will respond to any manifestations of aggression or a terrorist danger on our territory.”

Very last week, an official at Russia’s international ministry, Aleksey Polishchuk, warned that even though the military drills with Belarus were being designed to prevent escalation, Moscow’s closest ally could join the war work if Ukraine “invaded”.