Russian troops prepare for military drills in Belarus

Moscow, Sep 16 Units of the Russian Armed Forces based in the Central Military District are preparing for the planned drills of the Collective Security Treaty Organisation (CSTO) Peacekeeping Forces "Indestructible Brotherhood-2020," to be held from October 12 to 16 in Belarus, the Russian Defence Ministry said.

During the drills, which will take place at the Losvido training ground in the northeastern Vitebsk region, the preparation and conduct of a peacekeeping operation will be worked out, it said in a statement on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

Troops from six CSTO member states, Russia, Belarus, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, will take part in the drills, it said.

The Russian Defence Ministry said in a separate statement on Tuesday that on Monday the first stage of the joint Belarusian-Russian tactical drills "Slavic Brotherhood-2020" started at the Brest training ground in the southwestern part of Belarus.

In the counter-terrorist drills, which are not aimed against other countries, units of the Airborne Assault Regiment of the Russian Pskov Airborne Division are participating, the statement said.

During the exercise, which is scheduled to be completed on September 25, Belarusian and Russian paratroopers will work out joint actions as part of a tactical group, it said.

( With inputs from IANS )