The Belarus Defense Ministry said that the Russian and Belarusese military will organize joint strategic drills in Belarus from September 12 to 16. According to Major General Valery Revenko, the goal of the exercises is to test the coordination and military security capabilities of the Statehood Alliance, as well as readiness to deal with the risk of attack.
The State Alliance is a form of borderless linkage between Russia and Belarus, two neighboring countries that were once part of the Soviet Union.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has previously warned that Russia could prepare something in Belarus this summer under the guise of regular exercises, but did not provide evidence or specific details.
In a recent interview, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko revealed that he had decided to move the drill location further from the western border with the European Union countries, in response to security concerns from Poland and Baltic countries. Mr. Lukashenko affirmed that it is "completely unreasonable" to think that Belarus took advantage of the exercise to attack the Baltic countries and Poland.
Revenko also pointed out that the Russia-Belarus drills are being viewed by some NATO neighbors as an excuse to continue the mediarization process, as evidenced by the plan to organize a NATO joint exercise in Poland with the participation of at least 34,000 soldiers.
