MOSCOW, 30 January (BelTA) – Belarus' territory will be used for arranging exercises within the framework of the Collective Security Treaty Organization in 2020, BelTA learned from Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff Anatoly Sidorov at a press conference in Moscow on 30 January.
According to Anatoly Sidorov, CSTO exercises will be held in Belarus, Armenia, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia this year.
A number of exercises are supposed to take place in all the collective security regions. A command and staff exercise Vzaimodeistviye [Interaction] involving collective forces of the CSTO rapid response forces will take place in the Caucasian collective security region to practice fight against illegal armed units. A special exercise Eshelon [Echelon] for materiel and technical support units of the CSTO member states and a special exercise Poisk [Search] for reconnaissance units will be held to practice providing support for operations of collective rapid response forces.
The CSTO's collective rapid deployment forces will stage an exercise called Rubezh [Boundary] in the Central Asia collective security region to practice the use of CSTO forces and assets to combat international terrorist organizations. The use of the CSTO peacemaking forces for the sake of maintaining international peace and security will be practiced during the command and staff exercise Nerushimoye Bratstvo [Unbreakable Brotherhood] in the Eastern Europe collective security region. On the whole, CSTO exercises will be held in Armenia, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, and Russia. Thus, the year 2020 will be saturated with joint combat training events that cover all the collective security regions and all the components of the CSTO's collective forces.
Anatoly Sidorov reminded that in 2019 CSTO exercises were held in Belarus, Russia, and Tajikistan. About 10,000 people took part in them. Apart from that, some 1,900 units of weaponry and vehicles were deployed during those exercises.
