Russia starts giant maneuvers - expert points to another source of conflict: "Ships heavily loaded"

Created: 02/12/2022, 15:35

By: Florian Naumann, Sven Hauberg

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

The aim is to stop "external aggression".

The West is alarmed.

• Russia and Belarus started joint military maneuvers on Thursday (

  see initial report

  ).

• 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.

Update from February 11, 3:44 p.m

.: Parallel to the maneuvers in Belarus, Russia recently had warships practice in the Black Sea.

The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry protested against this - also because the maneuvers made shipping in the Sea of ​​Azov and the Black Sea impossible.

It is unclear whether retail will also be affected.

, a Turkish military expert pointed

out that the ships that entered the Black Sea through Istanbul were also suitable for a landing in Ukraine.

The Russian Navy has moved six landing ships and a submarine there, said naval expert Yörük Isik from the Istanbul "Middle East Institute" to the portal.

"I saw the ships myself last night.

They are heavily loaded and can carry up to 20 tanks each.”

Russia starts military maneuvers: Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania demand information from Belarus

Update from February 11, 2:25 p.m .:

Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania are asking Belarus for more information about the large-scale military maneuvers with Russia.

According to the Latvian Ministry of Defense in Riga, the three EU and NATO countries have sent a formal request to the authoritarian leadership in Minsk via the OSCE.

All three Baltic states border on Russia.

Latvia and Lithuania also border Russia's ally Belarus.

The Baltic countries therefore want to receive details of the exercise in accordance with Chapter 3 of the Vienna Document of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).

The agreement regulates how the OSCE states must exchange information about their military activities.

The Baltic states are expecting additional information from Minsk, such as the type and number of troops and weapon systems involved, the statement said.

Russia starts giant maneuvers in Lukashenko's Belarus - and follows up with the next "tactical exercise".

Update from February 11, 12:38 p.m .:

Against the background of growing tensions in the Ukraine crisis, Russia has announced further military exercises on the border with the neighboring country.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced that 400 soldiers were taking part in a “tactical exercise” in the Rostov region on Friday.

Around 70 military vehicles, including tanks and drones, would also be used in the maneuvers.

The aim is the training for the "combat mission".

Russia has increasingly flexed its muscles in the Ukraine conflict in recent days.

Military exercises involving tens of thousands of Russian soldiers began in Belarus on Thursday.

The maneuvers are scheduled to last until February 20.

A naval maneuver also took place in the Black Sea, during which "the detection and destruction" of enemy ships was practiced, as the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Friday.

US President Joe Biden also sharpened his tone in the Ukraine crisis on Friday - with a clear warning.

Russian maneuvers in Belarus: Telephone call with the USA

Update from February 10, 9:35 p.m .:

US Chief of Staff Mark Milley and his Belarusian colleague Viktor Gulevich spoke by phone about the military maneuvers between Belarus and Russia near the Ukrainian border.

Both generals exchanged views on regional security issues, the US Department of Defense announced on Thursday in Washington.

The phone call facilitated communication between the two chiefs of staff in order to reduce the risk of "misjudgments".

Belarus and Russia launch huge military maneuvers - Lithuania sends weapons to Ukraine

Update from February 10, 4:12 p.m .:

Amidst serious tensions with Russia, Ukraine is to receive weapons from Lithuania shortly.

The US-made Stinger anti-aircraft missiles would arrive in the coming days, Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte wrote on Twitter on Thursday.

She informed her Ukrainian colleague Denis Schmygal about this.

"I sincerely hope and wish that Ukraine will never have to use them," wrote the Prime Minister of the Baltic EU and NATO country during a visit to Kiev.

In another tweet, she added: Ukraine can count on Lithuania's support - now and always.

In January, Lithuania, along with the other two Baltic states of Estonia and Latvia, announced that they would supply US-made anti-tank missiles and anti-aircraft systems to Kiev - with Washington's approval.

This should strengthen Ukraine's defense capability.

Lithuania also wants to hand over night vision devices to Kiev, Latvia has decided to supply unspecified equipment.

Estonia, on the other hand, would like to deliver nine artillery pieces from old GDR stocks to the Ukraine and has asked the federal government for approval.

A decision on this is still pending.

In the evening, Estonia's Prime Minister Kajas Kallas will meet Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) in Berlin.

Russia's Belarus maneuvers: Not only Ukraine reacts outraged - "gesture of great violence"

Update from February 10, 3:30 p.m .:

Russia and Belarus started a huge military maneuver on Thursday – the action met with heavy criticism.

The Ukrainian head of state Zelenskyy, for example, accused Russia and Belarus of exerting psychological pressure on his country by "piling up forces at the border".

In response to the Russian-Belarusian maneuvers, the Ukrainian army had scheduled its own military exercises to run parallel to those in Belarus.

The French government also sharply criticized the military maneuvers in Belarus.

Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian told France Inter that the exercises were "extremely" large-scale.

France was concerned about this "gesture of great violence".

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

First report:

Brest – while diplomatic efforts are starting in Berlin, among other things, to defuse the conflict in eastern Ukraine*, Russia and Belarus are beginning a joint military maneuver.

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.

In this photo provided by the Vayar military agency, Belarusian military vehicles drive in preparation for maneuvers with Russia.

© dpa/Vayar Military Agency

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.

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 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 tough action against 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.