Russia to deploy troops in February for ‘combat readiness’ drills

An announcement that does not breathe appeasement. The Belarusian Ministry of Defense announced on Tuesday January 18 that Russian troops would arrive in February for training exercises. “combat readiness”. “The upcoming operational readiness and combat exercises are taking place due to the worsening of the politico-military situation in the world, the continuous increase of tensions in Europe, in particular on the western and southern borders of Belarus”, explains Minsk.

According to the Russian news agency Tass, these joint military exercises in Belarus will take place from February 10 to 20 at five military training grounds, the Belarusian defense minister said. The Russian Federation and Belarus will take as scenario “a situation where the security of the state of the Russian-Belarusian union will require mobilizing the military potential of both countries”, said the Russian Ministry of Defense.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko had announced such exercises the day before, without specifying the dates. He justified these exercises by the reinforcement of the NATO system in Poland and in the Baltic countries, on the borders of his country, as well as by the situation in Ukraine. Russian users had broadcast videos on Monday of whole trains loaded with military equipment, armored vehicles and other vehicles in western Russia heading for the border.

These maneuvers in Belarus, an ally of Moscow located in northern Ukraine, come as Russia has already massed tens of thousands of troops on the Ukrainian border, raising fears in the West of an invasion. The announcement of these exercises also comes as Russians and Americans must decide on the follow-up to their diplomatic efforts, after a series of talks which failed to defuse the risk of a new conflict in Ukraine.