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Slavic Brotherhood-2020 drills to be held on September 14-25 in Belarus

Joint Belarusian-Russian tactical exercises Slavic Brotherhood have been held annually since 2015

MOSCOW, September 13. /TASS/. The Belarusian-Russian military drills Slavic Brotherhood-2020 will be held on the Brestsky firing range on September 14-25, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday.

"In accordance with the Plan of international activity for 2020, on September 14-25, joint Belarusian-Russian tactical exercises Slavic Brotherhood, which have been held annually since 2015, will be carried out on the Bretsky firing range in the Republic of Belarus," the ministry said.

According to the ministry, the decision on holding these exercises was made back in October 2019. Paratroopers of the Pskov airborne assault division will take part in the drills. During the drills, the paratroopers will practice the issues of streamlining cooperation when implementing tactical tasks.

The Russian forces will arrive in Belarus by railways. Some 300 Russian servicemen and nearly 70 units of combat and special equipment of the airborne assault division will take part, the ministry said, stressing that after the exercises the Russian troops would return back home.

The Slavic Brotherhood-2020 trilateral drills involving the forces of Russia, Serbia and Belarus were supposed to begin in late September at the Brestsky proving ground in Belarus. This exercise takes place on the territory of one of the participant countries, rotating every year: in 2019, the exercise was carried out in Serbia, and in 2018, it was held in Russia.

Serbian Defense Minister Aleksandar Vulin announced that the European Union demanded that Belgrade cancel the upcoming drills in Belarus. The Serbian government decided to freeze all military drills with other countries for six months.

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