Military exercises in Belarus involving Russia, which will begin on Sept. 1, will include operations at the Ostrowiec nuclear power plant near the border with Lithuania.
This information was provided to the Polish Press Agency by Zbigniew Hoffmann, the Polish secretary of the Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defense Affairs. According to Hoffmann, “this is a very dangerous undertaking.”
The six-day “Combat Brotherhood 2023” exercises involving Russia, Belarus, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan, and Kyrgyzstan will commence in Belarus on Sept. 1. Operational and strategic exercises will be conducted mainly at training grounds in the Brest, Grodno, and Minsk regions.
From Aug. 18, the first Russian military units began to appear in Belarus, which will participate in the exercises. Armenia has withdrawn from participating in the exercises.
According to Zbigniew Hoffmann, these will largely be airborne troop exercises,”which are the most professional, prepared for various kinds of actions, including actions of a diversionary, hybrid nature.”
The secretary of the Polish Committee of the Council of Ministers for National Security and Defense Affairs emphasized that although these are exercises involving several countries, “Russia is absolutely setting the tone for these war games.”
He added that the exercises are expected to consist of many elements, including an “extremely dangerous undertaking: operations at the Ostrowiec nuclear power plant,” which are supposed to simulate rescue operations in the event of nuclear contamination.
“This clearly falls under a policy of intimidation or exerting pressure on NATO’s eastern flank, on the West and of course on Poland,” said Hoffmann.
The Polish official assessed that these exercises are meant to be a show of Russia’s strength and potential in relation to the West.
