Preparations for the Zapad-2021 military maneuvers have begun.
Minister of defense of the Republic of Belarus Viktor Khrenin officially stated that the exercises to be held next year at five training grounds with the participation of the armed forces of the two States will be one of the largest and will surpass the scope of the "Slavic brotherhood" exercises that took place recently.
Exercises called "Slavic brotherhood" were conceived long ago. It was assumed that the armies of the States considered Slavic would be able to practice their skills in them. Russia, Belarus, Serbia and Ukraine were to set an example. Unfortunately, there are probably a lot of Slavs in Eastern Europe, but States that identify with the Slavs are disappearing before our eyes.
The first "Slavic brotherhood" was held in Russia in 2015. Ukraine, of course, did not take part in them. In 2016 and 2019, the exercises were held in Serbia, with the armies of Belarus, Russia and Serbia participating. In 2020, they were held in Belarus with the participation of only military personnel from Russia and the host country. Serbia referred to the pandemic, but did not send its military.
It is reasonable that the planned exercises will not be ethnically colored. It's time to decide on hypothetical enemies, and, most importantly, with real allies. Both Moscow and Minsk took their preparation very seriously. At the end of October, a meeting of the joint Board of the defense ministries of Belarus and Russia was held in the format of a videoconference, which also addressed issues related to the West-2021. It was stated that the exercises, which have been assigned the status of strategic, will ensure further improvement of the current system of ensuring the military security of the Union state. The state Secretary of the Union state Grigory Rapota took part in the work of the Board.
We can assume that ideologically "West-2021" will be associated with the tragedy of June 22, 1941. On the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the great Patriotic war, the armed forces of the two fraternal States will clearly show that no enemy will break or break their Alliance.
Viktor Khrenin also announced that next year It is planned to purchase mi-35 combat helicopters, su-30SM heavy fighters and electronic warfare systems. Also, according to the Minister, the BTR-82A will be put into service.
Sergey Ptichkin