MINSK, July 10. /TASS/. Europe has been boosting its military presence near the borders of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, with at least ten battalion tactical groups currently deployed in the area, Chief of the Belarusian General Staff and First Deputy Defense Minister Pavel Muraveyko said.
In his words, "all the fuss" made about the joint Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2025 exercise reminds him of the 2009 drills. "All around Europe, there were claims that a Russian military invasion of Europe was imminent, that the exercises are just a cover-up, that around 200,000 Russian soldiers are ready to attack Baltic countries," the deputy minister said. "But the drills ended, Russian troops left and our military units returned to their home bases."
"Just like was done after the Zapad-2009 exercise, the deployment of battalion tactical groups has begun now, and their number only continues to grow. Now there are 19 of them in Europe, and ten of them are stationed in neighboring countries," Muraveiko said.
He described it as a sophisticated information campaign, allowing the West to boost its military potential in the border areas. "It’s a thief crying ‘stop thief.’ Those who are screaming the loudest about a potential aggression are the aggressors themselves," the Belarusian military official said.
Muraveiko explained that battalion tactical groups, which typically comprise between 1,000 and 2,000 personnel, are self-sufficient combat units equipped with modern tanks, armored personnel carriers and artillery.
"This is a serious force, which, under certain circumstances <…> is capable of carrying out some sort of a provocation," he said.