Minsk. February 19. INTERFAX - Military attaches of 16 countries watched the final drawing of the tactical episode of the Allied Resolve-2022 exercise on Saturday, the Belarusian Defense Ministry reported.
"20 military attaches representing 16 countries watched today the final drawing of the tactical episode of the practical actions of the troops of the joint operational exercise "Allied Resolve-2022," the Defense Ministry informed.
Representatives from the military departments of Bulgaria, Hungary, Vietnam, India, Kazakhstan, China, Poland, Russia, Serbia, Syria, the USA, Turkmenistan, Turkey, Germany, the Czech Republic and Ukraine visited the Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground," the Belarusian Defense Ministry noted.
On Saturday, the troops of the Western Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Belarus, the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of the Republic, units of the Marine Corps of the Pacific Fleet, the aviation of the Russian Armed Forces took part in the tactical episode at the Obuz-Lesnovsky training ground.
The active phase of the exercises was observed by the State Secretary of the Security Council of Belarus Alexander Volfovich, the State Secretary of the Union State Dmitry Mezentsev, the Minister of Defense of Belarus Viktor Khrenin. Representatives of the Armed Forces of Lithuania and Latvia, about 60 representatives of foreign media were also present at the training ground.
Russia and Belarus are checking the reaction forces of the Union State. At the first stage - on February 9 - the redeployment and creation of groups of troops took place. At the second stage - from February 10 to 20 - the joint exercise "Allied Determination-2022" is held.
A number of units of the Armed Forces of Belarus, as well as parts of the Eastern Military District, the Aerospace Forces (VKS) and the Airborne Troops (Airborne Forces) of Russia are taking part in the exercises. In particular, long-range S-400 Triumph air defense systems, Pantsir-S short-range air defense systems, Su-35 multi-purpose fighters of the fourth generation and Su-25SM attack aircraft have been relocated to Belarus from Russia.
In Belarus, four training grounds ("Obuz-Lesnovsky", "Osipovichi", "Brest", "Gozhsky"), a number of terrain areas, as well as four airfields (in Baranovichi, Luninets, Lida and Machulishchi) are involved in the exercises.
The maneuvers are taking place against the backdrop of a crisis in relations between Russia and NATO. The United States, other NATO countries and Ukraine announced the concentration of Russian troops near the Ukrainian border and the threat of a Russian invasion.