What Are CSTO 'Combat Brotherhood-2023' Drills?
© Sputnik / Табылды Кадырбеков
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The joint Combat Brotherhood-2023 drills are taking place in Belarus from September 1-6. Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of Belarus announced that members of the Armed Forces of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Russia had already arrived in the country.
The military exercise Combat Brotherhood 2023 is being hosted by Belarus from September 1 to 6 with the participation of military contingents from Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) member states.
The Collective Security Treaty Organization is a military alliance consisting of six former Soviet republics: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. The organization aims to promote regional security and stability, as well as to coordinate joint military efforts. The organization has participated in several peacekeeping missions and joint military exercises.
Sputnik takes a closer look at the itinerary of the drills, their aims, and tasks.
Who Takes Part in 'Combat Brotherhood 2023'?
Military contingents from the Collective Security Treaty Organization member states began deploying to Belarus on August 25 to take part in the drills, according to the Belarusian Defense Ministry’s press service. The exercises focus on the training of various combat parts of the CSTO.
National contingents from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan will participate in the drills.
Over 2,500 military personnel and more than 500 units of weapons, troops, and special equipment are expected to be involved, as per the official announcement of the CSTO. Taking part in the drills will be the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Force, reconnaissance units of the armed forces of the CSTO member states, the logistics support forces of the CSTO troops, as well as the CSTO Radiation, Chemical and Biological Protection and Medical Support Unit.
24 August 2023, 06:23 GMT
Where Will Combat Brotherhood 2023 Take Place?
Belarus is currently holding the rotating presidency of the Collective Security Treaty Organization. Accordingly, it is hosting Combat Brotherhood 2023. The drills will take place in Brest Oblast, Grodno Oblast, and Minsk Oblast, at the Brestsky, Gozhsky, Domanovsky”, Obuz-Lesnovsky, Chepelevo, and Lesishche training ranges.
Several special exercises are planned under the aegis of the Combat Brotherhood 2023 drills:
Interaction-2023 joint exercises with the CSTO Collective Rapid Reaction Forces;
Search-2023 special exercises with intelligence forces and means;
Echelon-2023 special exercises with the logistical support forces and means of CSTO troops (Collective Forces);
Barrier-2023 special exercises with the joint CSTO NBC protection and medical support formation.
Peacekeeping exercises of the CSTO countries "Indestructible Brotherhood - 2021".
© Sputnik / Максим Богодвид
/ Who Has Been Invited to Combat Brotherhood 2023?
Representatives of states that are not CSTO members - Saudi Arabia, Iran, China, and Mongolia - were extended invitations to observe the Combat Brotherhood 2023 exercise, according to Chief of the CSTO Joint Staff Colonel General Anatoly Sidorov.
Belarus' neighbour Poland has also been offered a chance to observe the drills, but has not yet responded, according to Belarusian Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin.
“We've sent the invitation. There is no response so far. The exercise begins on 1 September. There is still time until 6 September... Feel free to come over. We are ready to show our openness,” Viktor Khrenin was cited by the BelTA agency as saying, in a nod at Polish officials.
28 August 2023, 10:04 GMT
What is the Purpose of Combat Brotherhood 2023?
The main purpose of the Combat Brotherhood 2023 exercise is to boost coordination and coherence in the work of command and control bodies while preparing and conducting a joint operation.
Furthermore, the drills aim to hone the practical skills and abilities of commanders in leading military units and subunits during combat and special operations. A particularly important task of the drills is to develop high moral and combat qualities, psychological resilience, and physical endurance among military personnel, as per the CSTO.
Combat Brotherhood 2023 are "planned" training exercises, Secretary of State of the Belarus Security Council Alexander Volfovich stated earlier, adding that both Minsk and Belarus' partners in the CSTO, unlike Western countries, have always conducted such exercises in an open format, adhering to a defensive military doctrine.
Russia does not see the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) as an adversary of NATO and wants the Eurasian bloc to focus on protecting its member states, Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in June after a CSTO foreign ministers’ meeting in Minsk.
"I do not think that we should remold the CSTO into a bloc that is opposed to anyone. The CSTO has been developing based on the vested security interests of its member states. The CSTO does not seek a leading role in the Eurasian continent," he told reporters.
On the eve of the drills the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, slammed NATO countries for indulging in provocative exercises near his country's borders, which they justify with alleged "threats" emanating from Belarus.
"NATO countries are persistently promoting the policy of their expansion, building up military presence around Belarus, constantly conducting provocative exercises on our borders," the BelTA news agency quoted the president as saying at a meeting of the country's Security Council.
Lukashenko said that, "leaders of Poland and the Baltic states accuse Belarus of some mythical aggressive intentions," while in actual fact it is they themselves who are "increasing military budgets, pulling large military formations to our borders." The leader of Belarus emphasized that, "neither in Poland, nor in Lithuania, nor in other Baltic countries should there be a single foreign serviceman." Only In that case, he added, could those states make claims about the presence of military personnel from other countries on Belarus soil.
Nevertheless, Alexander Lukashenko declared Belarus' readiness to restore good relations with its neighbors, while noting at the same time that, to date, the response has amounted to only "accusations and threats."
