Mon 16 January 2023:
Russia and Belarus has started joint air force drills that Minsk says are defensive in nature, but the move comes as concerns grow that Moscow is pushing Belarus to join the war in Ukraine.
Kyiv has continuously warned of possible attacks from Belarus, but the Kremlin has denied that it has been pressuring its neighbour to take a more active role in the conflict in Ukraine. Minsk has said it will not enter the war.
Pavel Muraveyko, first deputy state secretary of Belarusian Security Council, said the situation on the country’s southern border with Ukraine was “not very calm” and that Ukraine has been “provoking” Belarus.
“Today, a joint tactical flight exercise of aviation units of the Belarusian and Russian armed forces, which are part of the aviation component of the regional group of troops, started,” the ministry said in the statement.
The key objective of the exercise is to increase interoperability of the forces in combat training tasks, the ministry added. A unit of the Russian aerospace forces is taking part in the drills.
“A great number of tasks is scheduled to be practiced during the exercise. These include conducting aerial reconnaissance, joint patrolling of the airspace along the state border, providing air support for groups of troops, landing of tactical airborne troops, cargo delivery and evacuation of wounded,” the statement read.
All air bases of the Belarusian air and air defense forces are in use during the drills, according to the Belarusian Defense Ministry.
The joint exercise of Russia and Belarus will last through February 1.
New Equipment For Communications
New communications equipment capable of working under strong radio-electronic impact has been supplied to the Belarusian army, the country’s defense ministry said on Saturday.
“New communications equipment has been added to the Belarusian army’s stockpile. The handover ceremony took place near the town of Asipovichy,” the statement published on the ministry’s Telegram channel read.
The newly supplied armaments and military equipment are “capable of operating in conditions of strong radio-electronic impact, while ensuring accurate data transmission in digital mode to the end recipient,” Belarusian State Authority for Military Industry (SAMI) deputy chief Oleg Mishchenko said.
“Our SAMI is fully loaded with the production of the entire line of digital communications equipment.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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