Belarusian troops began training near the border with Ukraine and Poland, as well as in the Minsk and Vitebsk regions.
The Ministry of Defense announced that the military exercises will continue until September 14.
The aim of the command and staff exercises was called to work out the coherence of the units of the troops and their management. The troops will practice conducting actions to "liberate captured territories", take control of borders, air support of troops, as well as fight against illegal formations and sabotage groups.
The agency emphasized that foreign observers from the military-diplomatic corps accredited by the ministry were invited to the active phase of the exercises. The agency did not specify which countries these observers are from.
- As early as September 1, the deputy chief of the operational department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces Oleksiy Hromov said that the Ukrainian military is ready for any development of events during the exercises in Belarus from September 8 to 14. According to him, the probability of an offensive by Belarusian forces remains low.
- The "Belarusian Gayun" monitoring group believes that Belarusian forces will most likely practice "de-occupation" of Belarusian territories in the event of a possible attack by Ukraine. "Lukashenkaʼs regime is very afraid of revenge for complicity in military aggression against Ukraine," the group said.