Russia Deploys Sukhoi Fighter Jets, Air Defense Systems To Belarus, NATO Also Mounting Build-Up Near Belarus

Russia redeploys Sukhoi fighter jets, S-400 air defence systems to Belarus

Pravda

According to Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Fomin, the test of the reaction forces of the Union State will take place in two stages and will include the redeployment of fighter jets and air defense systems to Belarus, Interfaxreports.

The first stage of the test is scheduled for February 9. It is planned, among other things, to carry out the redeployment of troops and create force groupings in different directions within a short period of time.

"As part of the efforts to check the functioning of the unified air defense system of the Union State of Russia and Belarus, 12 Su-35 fighter jets, two divisions of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, as well as the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile battalion will be redeployed to the territory of Belarus," Fomin added.

During the second stage, which is scheduled for February 10-20, the troops will hold exercises in firearms and other training subjects.

Units of the Russian Armed Forces have already begun to arrive in Belarus for the purpose of the scheduled inspection of the reaction forces of the Union State of Russia and Belarus.

NATO mounting build-up near Belarus, Russia claims

RT

Amid heightened tensions with NATO, Moscow has vowed that it will not turn a blind eye to the US-led military bloc’s purported build-up near Belarus, as Russian officials seek responses to their proposed security guarantees.

Speaking as part of an interview with TASS published on Tuesday, Russia’s ambassador to Minsk, Boris Gryzlov, remarked “we see that the build-up of NATO forces and resources, in fact, does not stop at our gates.”

He continued, stating that during the migrant crisis, when thousands of would-be asylum seekers from troubled nations, mainly in the Middle East, attempted to cross over from the former Soviet republic into EU states, additional forces, including heavy weapons were moved to the Belarusian border from Poland.

Gryzlov cautioned that such actions from NATO and its partners “of course, does not go unnoticed.” He added that the two states take a careful approach to border protection, and that joint Russian-Belarusian air patrols are regularly organized, using “long-range Tu-22M3 bombers, Su-30SM multirole fighters, and others.”

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State Dept Claims Belarus Could Play Role in Russia's Alleged Plans to Invade Ukraine

Sputnik

Belarus could play a role in the Russian plans to invade Ukraine amid rising tensions between Moscow and Kiev, a senior US State Department official said.

“Information we've seen indicates Belarus could play a role in Russia's plan to phase in Ukraine,” the official said during a press briefing on Tuesday.

The official did not specify what kind of information the United States has on the issue of Belarus allegedly playing a role.

He also alleged that proposed changes to the Belarusian constitution indicate Minsk may allow Russian conventional and nuclear weapons to be stationed on its territory, though he did not disclose which articles of the planned changes to the constitution of Belarus indicate that Russian weapons can be placed in the country.

The US will monitor the situation with the constitutional amendments in Belarus as regards changing its fundamental approach to housing weapons of foreign countries on its territory, the official added.

In recent months, Russia has been accused of building up troops near the Ukrainian border and allegedly planning an invasion - a claim repeatedly dismissed by Moscow. Russia has pointed to NATO's military activity near its that it considers a threat to its national security.

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