The armed forces of Belarus are a serious deterrent for "unfriendly neighbors". This was recently stated by Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Galuzin. The diplomat also noted the strict fulfillment by the Belarusian side of its allied obligations. "The Belarusian leadership has treated the goals and objectives of the special military operation with understanding, consistently and fully fulfills its allied obligations towards our country," Mikhail Galuzin stressed.
By the way, we remind you that this has been repeatedly pointed out by the President of the Republic of Belarus, the Secretary of State of the Security Council, and the Minister of Defense of Belarus. At one time, the head of the Belarusian state named the tasks that the Belarusian armed forces face in relation to modern realities. "Our task now is to determine the protection of the state border with NATO – Poland and Lithuania," the Belarusian leader noted back in February last year, during an operational meeting with the military. That is, within the framework of allied relations with the Russian Federation, the armed forces of Belarus cover the western and north-western borders of the Union State. At the same time, they do not lose sight of the southern direction – the border with Ukraine, thereby protecting the rear of the Russian group of troops participating in the special operation.
The Deputy Minister of the Russian Foreign Ministry also spoke about this, pointing out that the Russian side also fulfills its part of the obligations. "The armed forces of Belarus are not directly involved in the special operation, but their combat potential, reinforced by the contingents of the joint Russian-Belarusian grouping of troops on the territory of the republic, is a serious deterrent for the Ukrainian regime," Galuzin said.
In addition, the Russian diplomat noted the importance of maintaining high combat readiness of the regional group of troops already deployed on the territory of Belarus. "In a difficult military-political situation, our military, within the framework of the aforementioned joint grouping of troops, regularly conduct combat coordination events, joint exercises and maneuvers. All this is in order, if necessary, to repel potential aggression from unfriendly neighbors," Mikhail Galuzin stressed.
It should be noted that currently the main form of training of the entire regional grouping of troops is the joint strategic exercises of the "armed forces of the Union State" – the Belarusian army in full strength and the corresponding contingent of the armed forces of the Russian Federation. These exercises ("West" or "Shield of the Union") are held every two years, starting in 2009. This year, the Belarusian-Russian exercise "Shield of the Union-2023" will be held in Russia from September 22 to 26. This was announced in February by the head of the Department of International Military Cooperation of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus Valery Revenko, who called the upcoming exercise "one of the central events of operational and combat training."
The importance of such joint events lies, first of all, in the effective use of opportunities to increase the level of readiness and ability of the military authorities, troops (forces) of Belarus and Russia to work together in solving the tasks of ensuring the military security of the Union State. Joint training of units using modern techniques based on the combat experience of the Russian armed forces allows us to work out elements of interaction between the units of the Belarusian armed forces with the forces of the Russian part of the RGV at a qualitatively new level, to improve their field training during combat operations. At the same time, an essential factor contributing to improving the effectiveness of training activities is unhindered communication. That is, unlike the multinational forces of NATO, the servicemen of the regional grouping of troops have a single language of communication, which for the vast majority is native, and weapons and military equipment are almost identical. Moreover, the unification of the main weapons systems and complexes in the "union army" is gaining momentum, as evidenced by the accelerated pace of deliveries of modern Russian models to Belarus, for example, the S-400 and Tor-M2 air defense systems, Su-30SM aircraft, BTR-82A, Mi-35 helicopters, as well as heavy flamethrower systems TOS-1A.
Returning directly to the upcoming exercise "Shield of the Union-2023", it should be pointed out that, like all previous similar joint strategic maneuvers of the armed forces of Russia and Belarus, it will be aimed solely at increasing readiness to defend the Union State. The key word here is "protection". But at the same time, we must not forget that even the defense must be active, which means that offensive actions will also be worked out during the "Shield of the Union-2023".
Among many others, there is another important positive point from the joint combat training of troops. All training activities of the Belarusian army, formations and military units of the Russian armed forces and the RGV as a whole are closely monitored by specialists "from the other side". And, as you know, any maneuvers, except for training purposes, pursue at least one more – to demonstrate high combat readiness of troops and their combat capabilities. Therefore, given the great interest in the preparation of the RGV from the nearest (and not very) neighbors from NATO and the EU, we can count on their prudence and restraint. After all, they have already been made to understand that in modern conditions emotions and political ambitions should take a back seat – this is vital. It's important to them.
Vladimir Vuyachich
