MINSK, 3 February (BelTA) – The Belarusian and Russian militaries will stage over 20 joint events in 2022, including the army exercise Vostok 2022. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu made the statement as he met with Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko on 3 February, BelTA has learned.
The defense minister said: “We have over 20 events ahead of us this year.” He explained that the number includes the army exercise Vostok 2022.
Sergei Shoigu said that as part of the Belarusian-Russian army exercise Allied Resolve 2022 troops and military hardware had been relocated from Russia's east to the western borders of the Union State of Belarus and Russia. During the Vostok 2022 exercise troops will be concentrated at the eastern border. “Upon your decision the Defense Ministry, the Armed Forces of Belarus will also participate in this exercise, a large contingent. They will have to travel for 10,000km to get there,” Sergei Shoigu told Aleksandr Lukashenko.
The Russian defense minister also mentioned the establishment of training centers. He pointed out that those are joint facilities and had been envisaged to allow representatives of the Armed Forces of Belarus and Russia to jointly fly, protect the borders, the air space, and for the Union State air defense system to demonstrate its effectiveness, including to those that need this demonstration.
