MINSK, August 24. /TASS/. Belarus is set to play host to the Combat Brotherhood-2023 joint strategic military exercise on September 1-6, as participating military contingents from Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states will start redeploying to Belarusian soil on August 25, the Belarusian Defense Ministry’s press service said.
"Joint and special drills are planned in the general concept of the Combat Brotherhood-2023 exercise, bringing together the training of various combat parts of the CSTO (Collective Forces)," the Defense Ministry statement said.
The military agency added that the drills will be conducted at proving grounds and over terrain in the Brest, Grodno and Minsk regions. "Military contingents participating in the exercise will begin relocating to the Republic of Belarus as early as tomorrow," the ministry noted.
The drills are envisioned as a joint exercise with the CSTO collective rapid reaction forces, dubbed Interaction-2023, formulating missions and tasks involving the application of the CSTO collective security system’s forces and equipment for settling a hypothetical crisis situation in the CSTO Eastern-European collective security region. Several special drills are planned under the aegis of the Combat Brotherhood-2023 exercise: Search-2023 will involve personnel and resources from CSTO member states’ military intelligence units; Echelon-2023 will use manpower and assets from CSTO (Collective Forces) military logistics units; and Barrier-2023 will involve a joint formation of the CSTO radiological, chemical and biological protection force and medical support units.