Russia deploys military helicopters to Belarus, joint exercises announced

Russia has sent more than ten aircraft to Belarus, where joint exercises by the air forces and air defence troops have begun.

Source: the monitoring project Belarusian Hajun on Telegram; Ministry of Defence of Belarus on Telegram

Quote: "According to reports yesterday, two Russian Aerospace Forces helicopters, a Mi-24 and a Mі-8, arrived at the Baranavichy airfield on 25 May. It subsequently became clear that more helicopters had been transferred from Russia to Belarus.

According to an update, eight helicopters in total (Mі-24s and Mі-8s  of the Russian Aerospace Forces) arrived in Baranavichy from Seshcha (Russia) on 25 May."

Details: According to observers, the following Russian Aerospace Forces aircraft are currently stationed in Baranavichy:

• two Su-24MR reconnaissance aircraft
• at least four Su-30SM fighter jets
• eight Mi-24 and Mі-8 helicopters.

The Defence Ministry of Belarus, for its part, has reported that in the period from 27 to 31 May they will be "conducting joint flight tactical exercises with the Air Force and Air Defence Forces of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus and the Aerospace Forces of the Russian Federation under the leadership of the commander of the air force and air defence forces, within the framework of improving the unified regional air defence system of the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation, and in the interests of increasing the interaction and training of command and control bodies and flight personnel".

The drills will involve Belarusian military aviation units, anti-aircraft missile troops and radio-technical troops and Russian reconnaissance, fighter, and army aviation crews.

Quote: "The training will address issues of managing diverse aviation forces and organising interaction during combat training missions.

The primary focus during the exercises will be to cover the responsibilities of protecting state and military facilities from air assaults. Furthermore, at aviation ranges, crews will need to work on a number of practical challenges in order to cover ground forces."

Background:

• On the evening of 23 May, Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin visited Belarus and met with its self-proclaimed president, Alexander Lukashenko.
• Putin also stated that during his visit to Belarus, he plans to discuss security problems with Lukashenko, as well as the Belarusian side's participation in exercises with non-strategic nuclear weapons.
• On 24 May, Russia's new Minister of Defence, Andrei Belousov, arrived in Belarus.

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