Artillery units of the Belarusian mechanized brigade assumed combat duty as part of interoperability measures within the Russia-Belarus regional group of forces, the republic’s Defense Ministry announced on Friday.
"Today, as part of joint unit cohesion measures for the Belarus-Russia regional group of forces, artillery units of the 11th separate mechanized brigade have been readied for accomplishing assigned missions," the ministry said in a statement.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced on October 10, 2022 that Belarus and Russia had begun deploying a regional group of forces mostly comprised of the Belarusian military personnel. As the Belarusian leader pointed out, the decision to deploy the joint group of forces had been made during talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin and was prompted by the escalation on the western borders of the Belarus-Russia Union State.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry announced on October 15 about the arrival of the first military trains with Russian troops in the republic. As the ministry specified, the Russian military contingent in the joint regional group of forces would total about 9,000 personnel and there were plans to deploy about 170 tanks, as many as 200 armored combat vehicles and 100 artillery guns and mortars to Belarus from Russia.
President Putin announced on December 19 following the talks with his Belarusian counterpart Lukashenko in the capital of Belarus that Moscow and Minsk would continue the practice of joint drills and other combat training measures, including as part of the joint group of forces.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry reported in early January that measures continued to beef up the regional group of forces and the designated troops were ready for accomplishing the objectives of defending the Belarus-Russia Union State.
Ukrainian invasion of Belarus or Russia would trigger collective response, diplomat warns
The use of force by Kiev against Russia or Belarus or a Ukrainian invasion of either of the two Union countries would be enough to trigger a collective response, a senior Russian diplomat told TASS.
Commenting on potential scenarios of having Belarus involved in the conflict in Ukraine, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Second CIS Department Alexey Polishchuk referred to the latest military doctrine of the Union State under which the use of force against either of the two Union members would be viewed as an attack on the entire Union State and said there were similar commitments on mutual support in the event of any foreign aggression against the CSTO.
"In other words, from a legal perspective, any use of force by the Kiev regime or a Ukrainian military invasion of either Belarus or Russia would be enough to trigger a collective response," Polishchuk stressed. "However, it would be up to the two countries’ political and military leadership to decide whether to respond and in what way. The advisability of the use of the Union forces and the adequacy of a joint response to the threats posed in a specific situation will be key," he assured.
According to Polishchuk, apart from taking part in a military operation, other formats of support within the Union exist, primarily military and technical cooperation which, he said, was the most advanced between Moscow and Minsk.
"Our countries supply weapons and components for the production of military hardware to each other, cooperate in border protection issues, and enhance the combat capability of the common Russian-Belarusian air defense system. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has repeatedly warned his country would retaliate in the event of a Ukrainian attack on Belarus or any other provocation. The republic has the sovereign right to defend its territory through all means available and Minsk can count on Russia’s full support here," the diplomat explained.
Ukrainian security forces conduct drills near Belarusian border
Ukrainian security forces conducted drills in the Rovno Region along the border with Belarus, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said in a statement on Telegram on Friday. "The Security Service carried out large-scale counter-sabotage drills in the border areas of the Rovno Region. Defense forces practiced ways to neutralize enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups, which, according to the exercise script, tried to break through the northern border," the statement reads.
According to the SBU, one of the groups attempted to break into a city, while another one took the head and the chief engineer of an energy facility hostage together with their families. "Using psychological pressure and death threats, the perpetrators sought to force the victims to collaborate with them," the SBU said.
The drills involved units from the SBU, the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Police, the State Emergency Service and the National Guard, as well as government and local officials. "Participants in the training comprehensively practiced ways to ensure interagency interaction to prevent potential sabotage threats in the border regions of northwestern Ukraine," the SBU stated.
Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Vadim Pristaiko said on Thursday that Kiev was being forced to redeploy some troops from the line of contact in Donbass to the Belarusian border for fear of an attack.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko pointed out in early October that Ukraine had deployed as many as 15,000 troops to the border area. Chairman of the Belarusian State Border Guard Committee Anatoly Lappo said in mid-November that Ukrainian security forces had blown up "actually all the bridges in the Gomel and Mozyr areas," and "are starting to blow up all the bridges in the Volyn direction." The State Border Committee announced earlier that it had reinforced its border guard units, stepped up the use of technical means of protection and engaged maneuverable territorial border guard squads.
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