MOSCOW, 15 October (BelTA) – A peacemaking mission has been established as part of the command and staff exercise Nerushimoye Bratstvo 2020 [Indestructible Brotherhood] for peacekeeping forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The exercise is going on in Vitebsk Oblast. It is the first time in the history of such exercises that a peacemaking mission has been established, BelTA has learned.
The peacemaking mission consists of personnel of the CSTO Secretariat and the CSTO Joint Staff. As part of the exercise the mission is supposed to analyze the situation in the conflict zone, determine reasons behind disagreements, and suggest ways to resolve the differences. The mission is entrusted with organizing and carrying out negotiations with representatives of the conflicting sides and local authorities for the sake of preventing rising tensions and for the sake of reaching a compromise.
The peacemaking mission closely interacts with the joint command of the CSTO collective peacekeeping forces, representatives of the United Nations Organization and other international organizations that work in the simulated conflict zone. The mission is also supposed to coordinate political, military, informational, social, legal, and humanitarian measures in order to resolve the conflict. The mission plays an important role in assisting the peacekeeping contingents that are taking part in the exercise by relaying the main provisions on applying international humanitarian law norms in armed conflicts to the peacekeeping contingents.
The inclusion of the peacekeeping mission has allowed practicing the entire set of measures inherent in preparing for and carrying out a peacekeeping operation by the CSTO collective peacekeeping forces in a simulated conflict zone.
The exercise is supervised by Chief of the Special Operations Forces of the Belarusian army, Major-General Vadim Denisenko. Taking part in the exercise are contingents of the CSTO member states, operations groups of the CSTO Joint Staff and the CSTO Secretariat, police forces, and emergency response and rescue workers. A total of over 900 people are taking part in the exercise. Over 120 units of military hardware and special hardware, including flying drones, two Mi-8AMTSh helicopters and two Mi-24 attack helicopters of the Central Military District of the Armed Forces of Russia, have been deployed as part of the exercise. The exercise includes two stages and will end with practical actions in the army exercise area Losvido in Vitebsk Oblast on 16 October.
