Peacekeepers, riot police, and drone crews: Russia’s bloc rehearses an operation in a Belarusian oblast bordering two NATO states
Police and national guard units train alongside soldiers from five former Soviet states, under priorities Russia set as the bloc’s chair this year.
On 12 October, Russia led a five-day military drill with five allies in Belarus, rehearsing peacekeeping operations and responses to biological threats. Believing the exercises aimed at no one, Belarus's military chief asserted the drills served as a deterrent against hostile nations, while NATO members saw them as threatening border pressure.
Russia stationed troops with Oreshnik missiles and equipment capable of guiding attack drones into Ukraine. The participating nations included Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan, deploying over 1,500 troops and more than 300 weapons and vehicles, including approximately 80 drones. Armenia, the sixth member, did not participate in this drill.
The exercise took place in Vitsebsk Oblast, situated between Latvia and Lithuania. Russian forces contributed motorized rifle, reconnaissance, electronic warfare, and drone units from the Central Military District. The CSTO emphasized that the drills focused on peacekeeping readiness and a joint biological protection and medical unit.
Belarus dismissed the drills as planned, while its army chief termed them as measures of strategic deterrence against aggressive states, and claimed the West was effectively preparing for a new hot war. In Latvia, Belarusian armed escorts forcibly pushed migrants across the border, later stealing border cameras. Estonia's police and border guard chief warned that migration pressure could increase before winter, as Russia eased entry for countries like Ethiopia and Belarus passed migrants to the EU.
Lithuania stationed up to 100 soldiers on its border with Russia's Kaliningrad, and in September NATO's Italian jets intercepted a drone that crossed from Belarus. Minsk summoned Ukraine's envoy in October over an alleged drone strike on a Belarusian truck in Russia, and Kyiv dismissed the accusations of "an accomplice in the crime of aggression against Ukraine."
In September, Belarus conducted armor drills near the Suwałki Gap, NATO's land link to the Baltic states, and Lukashenko ordered a snap check of a 6th Separate Guards Mechanized Brigade battalion. European spy agencies warned of more Russian assassination plots against defense executives. Although Ukraine's intelligence rated the threat from Belarus as low, each additional contingent, missile unit, and airborne brigade increases the concerns for Kyiv and NATO's eastern flank.
Written by urgent.news from Euromaidan Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
