MINSK, 5 April (BelTA) – During a regular tactical exercise, which is taking place in Vitebsk Oblast these days, Belarusian and Russian paratroopers practiced blocking a populated locality, which had been captured by militants, BelTA has learned.
The scheduled tactical exercise involved the 103rd Independent Guards Airborne Brigade and other army units and special operations forces of the Belarusian army in addition to a reinforced paratrooper company of the 217th Airborne Regiment of the 98th Airborne Division of the Russian army.
According to the scenario of the exercise, militants used civilians as a human shield. Negotiations failed, the enemy refused to surrender and had to be eliminated.
Chief of the General Staff of Belarus, Major-General Oleg Belokonev positively evaluated performance of the troops. He remarked that Belarusian special operations forces and Russian airborne troops cooperate very smoothly.
BelTA reported earlier that the Belarusian-Russian army exercise, which is scheduled to take place in Vitebsk Oblast on 28 March – 6 April, involves about 1,000 military personnel and over 200 military vehicles, special vehicles, and automobiles in addition to about ten aircraft and helicopters. The exercise is supervised by the chief of the Special Operations Forces Command of the Belarusian army. The exercise is divided into three phases. The active phase is scheduled for 1-5 April.
The Belarusian and Russian paratroopers are busy practicing working together to find, block, and eliminate sabotage and reconnaissance forces, tactical airborne assaults, and illegal armed units of the imaginary enemy using reconnaissance units, artillery and air force units. The tactical exercise is supposed to test the readiness of Belarusian and Russian army units to carry out their missions in a complicated rapidly changing environment. The exercise is also designed to test new theoretical guidelines from directive documents and the joint deployment of army units in the course of special operations. The exercise will also test the weapons and military hardware that special operations forces are supposed to put into service soon.
Such combat training exercises are held in exercise areas in Belarus and Russia every year. The exercise represents the continuation of another stage in preparations for the Belarusian-Russian strategic army exercise Zapad 2017 (West 2017).