Belarus and Russia prepare for Zapad 2024 joint military exercises
Pravda Ukraine
The Russian military has begun preparations for the joint strategic military exercises with Belarus, dubbed Zapad 2024 (West 2024).
Source: Belaruski Hajun, an independent Belarusian military monitoring media outlet
Details: Belaruski Hajun reports that in early September, a delegation from the Russian Armed Forces visited Minsk for visual inspection of troop deployment sites during the upcoming exercises.
The latest Zapad-2021 exercise took place in September 2021 at 14 training grounds in Belarus and Russia. They were attended by 2,500 Russian servicemen.
Background:
- In November 2021, Chief of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov noted that the large-scale Russian military exercises Zapad-2021 showed Moscow’s ability to simultaneously deploy more than 3,500 air assault and special operations troops.
- In June 2024, Belarusian Defence Minister Viktor Khrenin stated that his country participated in the second stage of Russian military drills focused on the use of non-strategic nuclear weapons.
- In August, Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, said that someone was allegedly advising him to turn away from Russia and side with Ukraine in the fight against Russia.
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