Combat training, activities of the Internal Troops and territorial defense.
The Belarus-China anti-terrorist training “Attacking Falcon-2024” was completed at the Brestski training ground. During the active phase of the training, servicemen repelled an attack by a conditional illegal armed group.
Other combat training activities include the “Pinnacle of Brotherhood-2024” drills completed in Kazakhstan, as well as field drills of artillery, engineering and mechanized units of the Belarusian Armed Forces. In addition, mobilization drills will begin in Vitsiebsk region on July 31.
On July 16, two Russian drones of the Shahed-136/131 type flew into Belarus. One of them fell down in Homiel region. Repair of the runway began at Machulishchy airfield.
Combat training
Servicemen of the Special Operations Forces of the Belarusian Armed Forces started combat training within the framework of the international tactical and specialty drills “Pinnacle of Brotherhood-2024”. The drills are held at training points where combined units of Belarus and Kazakhstan organize ambushes and raids, fire and mountaineering training, as well as study the peculiarities of operations in mountainous and desert terrain.
During military medical training conducted by representatives of the Belarusian Armed Forces, servicemen from Kazakhstan gained experience in providing medical assistance in direct contact with the enemy and familiarized with the Belarusian tactical first aid kit. During mountaineering training, servicemen were working with mountaineering equipment and mastered techniques for climbing up and down steep cliffs.
As part of the drills, joint reconnaissance units of Belarus and Kazakhstan marched through mountainous and desert terrain. During the march, the reconnaissance forces discovered and destroyed an improvised explosive device factory and a base of an illegal armed group, as well as conducted an ambush.
On July 19, the final tactical episode of the “Pinnacle of Brotherhood-2024” drills took place. The reconnaissance forces conducted an ambush against a convoy of enemy’s equipment. The servicemen used all the skills acquired during the drills in performing the combat training task. On July 20, the drills were completed.
The joint anti-terrorist training of Belarus and China “Attacking Falcon-2024” continued at the Brestski training ground. The servicemen of the two countries took part in a tactical scenario to search for and destroy conditional sabotage and reconnaissance groups. Armored vehicles and transport aviation were used extensively, unmanned aviation and artillery forces andcmeans were involved. Also, during the training, servicemen of one of the battalions of the 38th Air Assault Brigade made a water crossing on BTR-70 and BTR-82A APCs.
On July 17, the active phase of the training began. Belarusian-Chinese air search and assault groups practiced the search for the base camp of a conditional terrorist organization. After detection, the groups landed from helicopters and began the stage of live firing. The servicemen destroyed guards and support units at the camp of the conditional enemy.
On July 17, Chief of the General Staff of the Belarusian Armed Forces Pavel Muraveika and Deputy Chief of the Corps Staff, Senior Colonel Liu Zhen met at the Brestski training ground. The military observed the night landing of combined groups, as well as a practical exercise.
On July 18, a practical exercise was held as part of the performance of anti-terrorist tasks as part of a combined tactical group. During the live-fire stage, the servicemen of the joint unit carried out tasks to repel attacks by a conditional illegal armed group, as well as the task of eliminating conditional militants in administrative buildings. Mi-35 helicopters, artillery systems, UAVs, anti-tank guided missiles and AGS-17 grenade launchers were used to perform the tasks. After the shelling of the conditional enemy by aviation and artillery, assault groups began to operate. The servicemen performed landing from armored personnel carriers and from Mi-8MTV-5 helicopters without parachutes.
Commenting on the results of the drills, Pavel Muraveika said, “The relations between the Belarusian Armed Forces and the People’s Liberation Army of China are strategic, I would say, of the nature of “iron friendship”.” According to the official, joint anti-terrorist trainings were held in 2011 and 2015 (on the territory of Belarus) and in 2012 and 2018 (on the territory of China). The break in the trainings was due to the COVID epidemic.
Liu Zhen, Deputy Chief of the Corps Staff, said, “Through joint training, our two military departments will develop important abilities needed to preserve peace. In the long run, I hope the joint training will continue.” Commander of the Special Operations Forces of the Belarusian Armed Forces Vadzim Dzenisenka said, “The goals we have set for ourselves are to work out complex forms of using the units: night actions, overcoming water obstacles and everything that concerns combat operations in a populated area. We have practiced these issues in full.”
Field drills began at the Obuz-Liasnouski training ground with artillery units of the Western Operational Command. Units of the 111th Artillery Brigade, the 350th and 841st Artillery Groups are involved. During live-firing exercises, servicemen will practice the use of 2S1 Gvozdika, 2S3 Akatsiya and 2S5 Giatsint self-propelled howitzers (cannons), 2A65 Msta-B towed howitzers, Grad MLRS and anti-tank missile systems.
On July 18, soldiers of the 40th Separate Mechanized Battalion of the 11th Mechanized Brigade marched to the Obuz-Liasnouski training ground for regular field drills.
Under the leadership of the commander of one of the mechanized battalions of the 11th Mechanized Brigade, tactical drills with live firing were conducted with a howitzer self-propelled artillery battery (2S1 Gvozdika) of the 841st Guards Artillery Group.
Since July 18, comprehensive combat readiness training has been held in the 120th Mechanized Brigade. During the training, units practice the issues of bringing their units to the highest levels of combat readiness, staffing, obtaining materiel reserves, and guarding and defending facilities. Commanders improve their skills in managing their subordinate units during the transition to wartime.
Field drills with personnel of the pontoon-bridge and engineer-sapper battalions of the 557th Engineering Brigade are being conducted. Personnel of the engineer-sapper battalion will practice their skills in subversion training, construction of engineering barriers, bridges and roads. The personnel of the pontoon-bridge battalion will carry out tasks to equip and maintain ferry crossings.
As part of the field drills at the Hozhski training ground, subversion training was held. The training was conducted jointly with the engineer-sapper platoons of the Lida and Pinsk border guard detachments, as well as the Hrodna border guard group. The soldiers of the pontoon-bridge battalion practiced equipping a ferry crossing on the Nioman river.
A comprehensive training was held in the 6th Mechanized Brigade to repel an attack on the facilities of a military town. The issues of an attack by a conditional enemy and the flight of unauthorized unmanned flying objects were worked out.
Units of the anti-aircraft missile and artillery divizion of the 11th Mechanized Brigade marched to the Damanava training ground for field drills.
Soldiers of the 78th Separate Mechanized Battalion of the 6th Mechanized Brigade continue to perform the tasks of guarding and defending one of the “resistance nodes” of the Kobryn fortified area.
Military commissariats and territorial defense
On July 9, the military commissariat of Verkhniadzvinsk district sent 6 reservists to a military training session. Military training sessions with reservists continue in the 7th Engineering Regiment. A total of 32 people were drafted to the training session.
State media: the number of people evading compulsory military service is decreasing every year. Since the beginning of 2024, 26 people have been prosecuted for evasion of conscription in Brest region. While for the entire 2023 – 128 people.
Mobilization drills will be held with the military commissariats of Vitsiebsk region from July 31 to August 9. Before the drills, summonses to appear at the military commissariat will be sent to conscripts at their places of residence. Notification will also be carried out by sending SMS-messages. It was known about the drills back in April.
On July 16, the mobilization readiness of the notification and collection center of one of the village executive committees of Mahiliou district was inspected. The deployment of the notification and collection center for conscripts was inspected.
Internal Troops
The course of combat coordination of the Vitsiaz special forces detachment is coming to an end. Stormtroopers, snipers, machine gunners, fire cover and evacuation teams, medics, and UAV operators have been practicing their skills under the guidance of PMC Wagner mercenaries in extreme conditions: more than 30-degree heat followed by heavy rain and wind.
On July 19, the combat coordination of the Vitsiaz detachment was completed. It ended with the fulfillment of a combat training task to search for and eliminate a sabotage and reconnaissance group that had crossed the state border. According to the Commander of the Internal Troops Mikalai Karpiankou, “As the Vitsiaz special forces detachment completed combat coordination, we can say that we complete the formation of new special forces detachments. Now we have 13 special forces detachments, trained and perfectly armed, capable of performing any complex task.” The ceremony was attended, among others, by mercenaries of PMC Wagner. In the photo from the event, one could notice a Ukrainian Kozak-7 armored vehicle. It was probably captured by the mercenaries during combat operations.
The soldiers of the 1st Police Brigade (military unit 5448) underwent drills on the brigade’s participation in counter-terrorist operations. The soldiers marched to the specified area on the territory of Minsk region, set up blocking lines, mastered the principles of service at checkpoints and practiced the basics of combat training. Units’ commanders focused on improving the continuous and sustainable management of their subordinates.
On July 20, a one-day training session with the Chest’ special forces detachment took place at the Valoushchyna training center. During military topography exercises, the servicemen continued to study a navigation multifunctional application for mobile devices. During the tactical training exercises, the focus was on the tactics of modern infantry combat and the principles and techniques of attacking positions. They practiced the order of frontal attack – tactics of approaching and assaulting enemy positions. The exercises were conducted with the assistance of instructors from the Internal Troops and with the participation of PMC Wagner.
Infrastructure development
Repair of the runway started at Machulishchy airfield. According to satellite images, the work started on July 16. During the repair it is planned to replace about 150 meters of the runway . In total, from 2021 to 2024, about 510 meters of runway will have been replaced at the airfield. It should be noted that the entire length of the airfield runway is 3000 meters.
Other
On July 16, at the ceremony honoring graduates of higher military educational institutions and senior officers, Aliaksandr Lukashenka said that “in the coming two years, the state will do everything to ensure that you [the military] have a strong rear.” And to prevent enemies from dragging Belarus into a military conflict, “the most terrible thing – nuclear weapons” have been deployed on the territory of the country. Lukashenka also said that they “will continue to develop, strengthen and improve our Armed Forces, also taking into account the experience of combat operations.”
Russian drones of the Shahed-136/131 type continued to fly into Belarus. On the night of July 16, a drone flew into Belarus from Ukraine. The Shahed-136/131 spent about 50 minutes on the territory of Belarus, after which it flew to the territory of Ukraine.
In the morning of July 16, another Shahed-136/131 flew into Belarus from Zhytomyr region (Ukraine). Later, the drone flew to Mahiliou, and the emergency alert system was operating in the city. A Mi-8 helicopter of the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Belarus, a Mi-24 helicopter and a Su-30SM fighter of the Belarusian Air Force were involved in the search and interception of the Shahed-136/131. Later, the drone fell on the territory of Aktsiabrski district (Homiel region), 120 kilometers from the border with Ukraine. It is known that there was an explosion during the fall. Thus, out of 4 Shahed-136/131, which flew to Belarus on July 11-16: 1 fell in Belarus, 2 flew to the territory of Ukraine, and the fate of 1 is unknown.
Information about the flight of Shahed-136/131 on July 16 in Mahiliou region was indirectly confirmed by the regional department of the Ministry of Emergency Situations. There were no other comments about the flights of drones from representatives of Belarusian state bodies.
It is important to note that on the night of July 18, a fighter of the Belarusian Air Force was on duty in the airspace of Homiel region during another Russian attack against Ukraine. At the same time, no Shahed-136/131 drones flew into Belarus that night. Apparently, the duty forces of the Belarusian Air Force began to preventively patrol the airspace to control the flying Russian drones.
On July 17, appointments were made in the Ministry of Defense and the Belarusian Armed Forces. Major-General Aliaksandr Naumenka was appointed Deputy Minister of Defense. Andrei Zhuk, who previously held the position, was dismissed from his post and retired due to age. Aliaksandr Naumenka, who previously held the post of Commander of the Northwestern Operational Command of the Belarusian Armed Forces, was replaced by Aliaksandr Bas (previously head of the Main Directorate for Combat Training of the Belarusian Armed Forces).
On July 21 122 students of Homiel State Medical University, studying under the program of reserve officers, took the military oath after the final training session in Brest.
