"Unprecedented threat": Belarus and Russia launch huge military maneuvers - in the middle of the Ukraine crisis

Created: 02/10/2022, 12:45 p.m

By: Sven Hauberg

Russian military vehicles are preparing to pull off a train platform after arriving in Belarus in late January.

© picture alliance/dpa/Russian Defense Ministry Press Service/AP

Russia and Belarus begin large-scale military maneuvers on Thursday.

The aim is to stop "external aggression".

The West is alarmed.

• Russia and Belarus will begin joint military maneuvers on Thursday.

• The US estimates that Moscow has transferred 30,000 Russian soldiers to Belarus.

• The exercise has fueled fears in the West of a possible Russian attack on Ukraine.

Brest – While diplomatic efforts are underway in Berlin, among other places, to defuse the conflict in eastern Ukraine*, Russia and Belarus are beginning joint military maneuvers.

According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the aim of the exercise in Belarus is "to stop and repel external aggression as part of a defense operation".

The maneuver, which begins on Thursday (February 10), is scheduled to last until February 20.

In the past few days there had already been individual maneuvers by both armies.

According to the information, the exercises are taking place at five military sites, four air force bases and at “various” other locations in Belarus.

One focus is the Brest region in the border area with Ukraine.

Belarus and Russia* did not provide any information on the number of soldiers involved in the joint exercises.

According to the Kremlin, the Russian soldiers should return to their locations after the end of the exercise.

Ukraine crisis: 30,000 Russian soldiers in Belarus - Lukashenko's country "militarily connected"?

The United States assumes that Russia has transferred around 30,000 soldiers to Belarus for the maneuver.

In the past few weeks, Russia had brought heavy military equipment to the neighboring country, including S-400 air defense systems.

In addition, according to information from Moscow, Sukhoi Su-25SM fighter jets were relocated more than 7,000 kilometers from the Primorye region on the Sea of ​​Japan to military airfields in the Brest region.

Russia has "in fact militarily attached Belarus," said SPD foreign policy expert Michael Roth in the ZDF "Morgenmagazin".

Vladimir Putin is the most important ally of the internationally largely isolated Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko*. 

Russian military maneuvers in Belarus: "Unprecedented threat" - in the middle of the Ukraine crisis

According to the Interfax agency, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the maneuvers were necessary in view of the "unprecedented threat".

These are not the first exercises of this kind, but this time they were larger than usual because of the tensions with the West. Belarus and Russia had promised transparency during the maneuver.

According to Western information, Moscow has massed more than 100,000 soldiers on the border with Ukraine in recent months.

This fuels fears of a possible large-scale attack by Russia on the neighboring country.

NATO is therefore increasing its troop contingents in the eastern member states.

The United States and other allies are also supplying arms to Kiev.

Russia rejects any plans of attack.

At the same time, the Kremlin argues that it feels threatened by NATO.

President Vladimir Putin is demanding comprehensive security guarantees from the military alliance and the United States, such as refraining from expanding NATO to the east.

Ukraine Crisis: Diplomatic Efforts in Berlin

Meanwhile, foreign policy advisors from Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine are meeting in Berlin on Thursday for talks as part of the so-called Normandy format*.

In the evening, Chancellor Olaf Scholz also wants to meet Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins in the Chancellery.

The three Baltic states that border Russia are calling for a crackdown on Putin.

In the event that the Ukraine conflict should escalate, Britain says it has thousands of soldiers ready for "humanitarian" operations.

This was announced by the office of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson before his trip to NATO headquarters on Thursday.

London warned that a Russian invasion of Ukraine would result in a "humanitarian catastrophe" that could lead to displacement at Europe's borders, particularly to countries like Lithuania and Poland.

Ukraine conflict: fierce debate in Eastern NATO countries - Hungary does not want soldiers, Slovakia is arguing about the treaty

Meanwhile, Hungary* announced that it did not want to agree to the stationing of NATO soldiers on its territory.

"We don't need any additional troops on Hungarian territory," Peter Szijjarto, the foreign minister of the EU and NATO country, told the European news channel Euronews on Wednesday evening.

Hungary borders directly on Ukraine in the east.

According to Szijjarto, there are already NATO troops in Hungary, "namely the Hungarian army".

This is itself able to guarantee the security of the country.

The situation in Slovakia is different: President Zuzana Caputova has ratified a controversial military agreement with the USA.

It enables the USA to expand two military airports in the EU country that borders directly on Ukraine.

The necessary approval of the Slovakian parliament, with which the agreement as an international treaty supersedes Slovakian laws, came on Wednesday after a debate overshadowed by fisticuffs by right-wing extremist MPs.

Several thousand people demonstrated against it in front of the parliament building.

According to polls, a clear majority of the population is against the military treaty.