Belarus and Russia conclude joint air force exercises
Combat aviation in Belarus (Photo:ВоенТВ / Telegram)
Belarus has completed its joint combat aviation exercises with Russia, the Ministry of Defense of Belarus has announced via Telegram on Feb. 2.
“The HQ has demonstrated high work coordination, and the joint actions of Belarusian and Russian pilots also showed confidence,” the ministry stated.
“The aviation units of the regional group of forces have completed a wide range of practical tasks.”
The ministry also assured that the exercises were aimed at the security of the Allied State (nominal union of Russia and Belarus), and were “exclusively defensive” in nature.
The joint military exercises started on Jan. 16, and were to continue until Feb. 1, involving all airfields and ranges of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Belarus.
In a December 2022 interview with The Economist, Ukrainian Armed Forces Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi said that Russia could launch a new offensive in February. According to Zaluzhnyi, the offensive could take place not in Donbas, but in the direction of Kyiv, from Belarus.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov earlier stated that a new large-scale Russian offensive could begin in the spring 2023.
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said on Feb. 1 that in the coming weeks, Russia is preparing for “maximum escalation” in its full-scale war against Ukraine.
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