Opinions & Interviews

CSTO exercise seen as opportunity for troops to practice, show readiness to respond to any threats

BREST, 6 September (BelTA) – During the Collective Security Treaty Organization’s joint operational and strategic exercise Combat Brotherhood 2023 the troops had a good opportunity to practice and demonstrated readiness to respond to any threats, BelTA learned from Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, First Deputy Defense Minister of Belarus Viktor Gulevich.

Viktor Gulevich underlined that this exercise was one of the most important events of the Collective Security Treaty Organization this year. He said: “The complicated military and political situation evolving right at the borders of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, the buildup of NATO’s military contingents, constant attempts at external interference in internal affairs of our states, provocations at external borders of the organization, the blazing conflict in Ukraine that has been unleashed and is constantly heated up by countries of the collective West indicate that only through joint efforts we can counteract existing threats and challenges. This is why we pay serious attention to training and to compatibility of staffs of our militaries in the course of preparing for and conducting combat operations.”

In his words, the Combat Brotherhood 2023 exercise proceeded according to the adopted concept, which had been developed taking into account the experience of the latest wars and military conflicts. It included four exercises: the exercise for the CSTO collective rapid response forces Vzaimodeistviye 2023 [Interaction], the exercise for reconnaissance forces and assets Poisk 2023 [Search], the exercise for logistics support forces and assets Eshelon 2023 [Echelon], and the exercise for nuclear, biological, and chemical protection troops and medical support Baryer 2023 [Barrier].

Viktor Gulevich went on saying: “All the goals have been reached. The tasks have been accomplished well. The exercise vividly demonstrated the high cohesion of military command and control bodies. The troops, who participated in the exercise, had a good opportunity to practice and demonstrated readiness to respond to any challenges regardless of their source.”

Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, First Deputy Defense Minister of Belarus Viktor Gulevich went to the military training area Brestsky on 6 September to observe the key episode of the Interaction 2023 exercise. In the course of this episode the troops had to eliminate an illegal armed unit and restore order at the state border.

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