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Coming Belarusian-Russian military exercise will be of defensive nature, minister says

A Belarusian-Russian strategic military exercise scheduled for September will be of a purely defensive nature, Defense Minister Yury Zhadobin told reporters in Minsk on August 28.

He said that the maneuvers would confirm Belarus' determination to "strengthen regional security" and adherence to its military alliance with Russia.

Called Zapad 2013, the two-stage exercise will be held between September 20 and 26 under the command of the Belarusian defense minister and the chief of the Russian Armed Forces' General Staff.

The exercise will take place at six training grounds in Belarus and a training ground in Russia's Kaliningrad exclave. The troops will practice protecting the border, maintaining a state of emergency in border areas and fighting saboteurs.

The event will involve more than 10,000 Belarusian and around 2,500 Russian troops, as well as some 300 troops representing Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It will feature about 70 tanks, more than 50 artillery and multiple rocket launch units and over 50 warplanes and helicopters. Some 200 troops representing Belarus' 103rd Independent Mobile Brigade will take part in the exercise in Russia.

According to Mr. Zhadobin, Belarus has formally notified the signatories to the Vienna Document 2011 on Confidence- and Security-Building Measures of the plans to hold the exercise. Foreign defense attaches accredited with the Belarusian defense ministry, as well as military experts representing Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine have been invited to observe the maneuvers, he said. //BelaPAN