11,000 Russian military personnel, 50 planes and helicopters deployed in Belarus, no flight drills yet

Ukraine does not see an increase in Russian and Belarusian military groupings in Belarus near the borders of Ukraine, and there have been no measures within the framework of the announced joint flight drills.

Source: Serhii Deineko, Head of Ukraine’s State Border Service, on the air of the national joint 24/7 newscast on 16 January

Quote: "We do not see an increase in Russian and Belarusian groupings in the direct vicinity of our border. Today, the number of Russian military on the territory of the Republic of Belarus is about 11,000 troops.

This number changes every day, because now there is a rotation of units of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation; namely, the 2nd Motorised Rifle Division will move to the territory of the Russian Federation, to Voronezh and Belgorod Oblasts, and the 6th Motorised Rifle Division will replace it."

Details: Regarding the announced Russian-Belarusian flight drills, Deineko confirmed that on 15 January, eight aircrafts were transferred from the Russian airfields in Voronezh and Kursk to Belarus, including six Su-34 bomber-fighters and two Su-30 SM multipurpose jets.

The total number of planes and helicopters on the territory of Belarus is now about 50; most of them are deployed at two airfields, Machulishchy in Minsk Oblast and Baranavichy in Brest Oblast.

At the same time, no events were recorded in Belarus on Monday, Deineko noted.

Quote: "We are constantly monitoring the entire situation, primarily that in regard to the increase in the aviation component [i.e., the number of aircraft]. Regarding the announced drills for the period from 16 January to 31 January, we can say that there were no events today.

There were flights of three AN planes, but these were merely close-support aircraft; the corresponding cargo was moved."

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