Forces from Russia and Belarus showed off their firepower against potential enemies at a military training ground close to Belorussian town of Asipovich as part of the Zapad 2017 (West 2017) military exercises.
Dozens of tanks, infantry, fighting vehicles, batteries of multiple rocket launchers were engaged in a live fire exercise for two hours Monday.
Some western officials claimed the exercises are a prelude to a Russian invasion to some of its neighbors. But Russia dismissed those accusations and said they are not war games.
"They are defensive. You know that our countries are not waging offensive wars," said Colonel Nikolay Bugrovskiy with the Russian military.
With nearly 13,000 troops participating, event officials invited military observers from seven European countries under international treaties. They are not obliged to do so.
"It's a nice possibility under the Vienna document to invite persons if you are close to a certain number of participants. And if it is 13,000 then it is mandatory to invite observers, but if it is less, it is nice to have some nations to see that it is not a threat to anybody," said Lt. Col. Carl Bohis an observer representing the Estonian military.
The presence of military observers at events like this one is seen by some experts as a tension diffuser between the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Russia.
The joint Russia-Belarus Zapad 2017 drills kicked off on Sept 14 in the two countries. The week-long event is said to be the largest joint military drill for Russia this year, and has drawn a lot of attention.
[ Ссылка ]
Subscribe us on Youtube: [ Ссылка ]
CCTV+ official website: [ Ссылка ]
LinkedIn: [ Ссылка ]
Facebook: [ Ссылка ]
Twitter: [ Ссылка ]
