Official Website of the Republic of Belarus
Government
Belarus Events Calendar
Belarus’ Top Tourist Sites
UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Belarus
Belarusian sanatoria and health resorts
Souvenirs from Belarus
| Home | Government | Events

Events

19 Sep 2017

Paratroopers stop saboteurs from reaching gas main in Belarusian-Russian army exercise Zapad 2017

MINSK, 19 September (BelTA) – Units of the 38th Guards Airborne Brigade stopped the imaginary enemy from reaching a gas main in the Losvido exercise area as part of the Belarusian-Russian strategic army exercise Zapad 2017, BelTA learned from Vladimir Makarov, Head of the Information Office, Press Secretary of the Central Office for Ideology of the Belarusian Defense Ministry, on 19 September.

According to the source, units of the 38th Guards Airborne Brigade were in charge of protecting a section of the gas main in the Losvido exercise area. The army units practiced preventing the penetration of the secure installation and destroying the enemy.

In the Borisovsky and Osipovichsky exercise areas units of the regional military force destroyed an attacking enemy force and staged a counterattack to regain their previous position. Combined arms units were supported by artillery fire and aerial strikes. Air defense units took care of protecting command posts, fire emplacements, and defense areas.

In the Lepelsky exercise areas troops practiced reconnoitering, blocking and eliminating an illegal armed group using live fire.

A mixed unit of the 115th Air Defense Missile Regiment consisting of one battalion of S-300 air defense missile systems and an attached battery of Osa missile systems worked together with battlefield air defense units in the Domanovo exercise area to repulse aerial strikes. The air defense units operating Osa-AKM air defense missile systems used live ammunition to destroy simulated aerial targets at low altitudes. Two pairs of Osa air defense missile systems and teams operating portable air defense missile systems Igla and ZU-23-2 fired the shots.

The battalion of S-300PS air defense missile systems protected the army units from the enemy’s aerial threats. Live ammunition was fired at targets posing as guided missiles and attack helicopters.

Special operations forces of the Belarusian army were busy reconnoitering with reserve forces in order to find sabotage and reconnaissance forces of the imaginary enemy in specific areas.

A recon unit of the 103rd Guards Airborne Brigade used Moskit drones and an electronic intelligence station in order to determine locations and movement routes of the imaginary enemy. The recon data was then fed to an air assault company, which blocked and destroyed the enemy units.

The Belarusian-Russian strategic army exercise Zapad 2017 began on 14 September to end on 20 September. In Belarus the regular army exercise areas Lepelsky, Borisovsky, Losvido, Osipovichsky, and the Air Force exercise areas Ruzhansky and Domanovo are used for the exercise in addition to two regular sectors of terrain in Vitebsk Oblast — Dretun and Glubokoye. In Russia the army exercise areas Luzhsky, Strugi Krasnyye, and Pravdinsky in Kaliningrad Oblast, Leningrad Oblast, and Pskov Oblast are used for the exercise.

Some 12,700 military personnel are taking part in the Zapad 2017 exercise. About 10,200 personnel are deployed in Belarus (slightly more than 7,000 people from Belarus and about 3,000 troops from Russia). The Belarusian part of the exercise will also involve a total of 370 armored vehicles, including about 140 combat tanks. Up to 150 artillery units and multiple-launch rocket systems, over 40 aircraft and helicopters will be deployed as well.

 

Archive
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
Great Patriotic War monuments in Belarus