MINSK, September 1. /TASS/. Joint operational strategic exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), the Combat Brotherhood 2023, will begin on the territory of Belarus on Friday.
From September 1 through 6, five joint drills will be held in the country. A joint exercise with the CSTO collective rapid reaction forces, dubbed Interaction-2023, will practice the use of the CSTO collective security system’s forces and equipment for settling a hypothetical crisis situation in the CSTO Eastern-European collective security region.
The Search-2023 exercise 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. During the Rock-2023 exercise, rescue units from the participating countries will practice their skills.
The final stage of the Combat Brotherhood drills will be the Indestructible Brotherhood-2023 peacekeepers’ drills in Kyrgyzstan.
The exercises will officially begin with a formal ceremony at the Brest Fortress, attended by CSTO Secretary General Imangali Tasmagambetov, the head of the CSTO Joint Staff Anatoly Sidorov and Chief of the Belarusian General Staff Maj. Gen. Viktor Gulevich.
The drills will be held at six military training grounds in Belarus.
In line with previous agreements, the exercises will be attended by troops from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan. Overall, a total of 2,500 servicemen and over 500 units of military and special hardware will take part.
The main task of the Combat Brotherhood 2023 drills will be to improve coordination and interaction while planning and conducting joint operations. Also, the exercises are aimed at improving practical skills of military commanders in combat and during special operations.
Actively using unmanned aerial vehicles and measures to counter the use of those by the enemy will be a key focus of the drills, said Anatoly Sidorov, the chief of the CSTO Joint Staff. Radioelectronic warfare will be practiced too, he added.
The first Combat Brotherhood drills were held on the territory of Russia, Armenia and Kazakhstan in October 2017.
No reason for West to worry
Although the news of a large-scale CSTO exercise near the border of Lithuania and Poland was met with concern in the West, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko assured that there was no reason to worry. In his words, the drills should not be treated as any kind of political or military signal.
He also said that Belarus had notified its neighbors about the exercises beforehand and in due time.
So far, Lithuania and Poland have not yet responded to an invitation to send their observers to the Combat Brotherhood drills. Also, CSTO has invited observers from several non-member countries, including Iran, China, Mongolia and Saudi Arabia.