MINSK, October 15. /TASS/. About 2,000 reconnaissance troops from the member states of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are involved in the special drills Poisk 2019 (Search 2019) that have kicked off at the Obuz-Lesnovsky training range in the Brest Region in western Belarus.
The maneuvers involving reconnaissance personnel from Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan and an operational group of the CSTO Joint Staff will also take place at the Domanovo, Osipovichi and Chepelyovo training ranges in Belarus.
"Such drills are being held in Belarus for the first time. They involve about 2,000 troops and 250 weapon systems, including aircraft," Deputy Chief of the Belarusian General Staff for Combat Control Igor Korol said.
As their specific feature, the drills involve "reconnaissance units of the (CSTO) Collective Rapid Reaction Force operating in close interaction with the attached reconnaissance personnel of the Belarusian army and units of the Interior Ministry’s and Emergencies Ministry’s forces," he said.
"Our units will be conducting all types of reconnaissance, including its airborne, special, battlefield, engineering, artillery, and also radiation, chemical and biological components," Korol said.
The reconnaissance troops will move towards the area of accomplishing combat missions by air, land and waterways, "and also at night using high-altitude oxygen gear."
The drills will practice missions involving all types of reconnaissance "to localize a border conflict in the East European region," the Belarusian Defense Ministry said.
The troops will employ various types of reconnaissance "to expose the activities of a notional enemy’s subversive and reconnaissance groups and strike them by fire," the ministry said.
Specifically, the CSTO troops will practice setting up ambushes, blocking illegal armed formations and liberating populated areas.
The drills dubbed Poisk 2019 will end on October 18. The CSTO reconnaissance troops’ special drills Poisk 2019 are being held as part of the joint operational and strategic military exercise Combat Brotherhood 2019.