BREST REGION, September 4. /TASS/. Joint operational strategic exercises of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO), Combat Brotherhood 2023, which are being held in Belarus between September 1 and 6, are being held strictly according to plan, Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin said on Monday.

"We have hosted these drills more than once. According to both participants and international observers we invite, they have always been given a high assessment. And the current exercises are proceeding in strict compliance with the plan, without any deviations," he told journalists on the sidelines of the CSTO Echelon drills that are being held in the Brest Region as part of the Indestructible Brotherhood drills.

"Some Western politicians who want to demonize Belarus are looking for some kind of conspiracy in the CSTO drills," he said. "I can say right now - don’t do this. These are planned and open drills, which are held every year in one of the countries of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. The key goal of the drills is to find ways and means to counter potential challenges and threats to the CSTO countries."

"The rotation-based system of the drills’ organization makes it possible for troops to train their skills on different terrains - mountains, desert, steppe, and forests or marshland, like here in Belarus," he added.

From September 1 through 6, five joint drills are being held in Belarus as part of the Combat Brotherhood-2023 maneuvers: Interaction-2023 will drill 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; 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. Apart from that, it is planned to hold Rock-2023 drills with emergency ministry units. The final stage of the Combat Brotherhood drills will be the Indestructible Brotherhood-2023 peacekeepers’ drills in Kyrgyzstan.

Taking part in the drills are national contingents from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. In total more than 2,500 servicemen and more than 500 combat vehicles will be involved.