Military activity on the territory of Belarus on May 6-12
Aviation activity, movements of the troops by rail and roads in Belarus.
Units of the 19th Mechanized Brigade were withdrawn from the area bordering Lithuania. They were replaced by a battalion tactical group of the 120th Mechanized Brigade. No flights of aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces were recorded in the airspace of Belarus.
Aviation activity
- Aviation activity was recorded at Machulishchy, Lida, Baranavichy, Luninets airfields, at Minsk National Airport and in Mahiliou. Flights of aircraft and helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force were recorded.
- On May 6, a Mi-8 helicopter of the Belarusian Air Force flew from Machulishchy airfield to Luninets airfield. On May 8, the helicopter returned to Machulishchy.
- On May 7, two Su-25 attack aircraft relocated from the base airfield (Lida) to Machulishchy airfield as part of the inspection of carriers of non-strategic nuclear weapons. On May 8, the aircraft returned to the base airfield.
- On May 8 and 10-12, flights of helicopters of the 50th Combined Air Base of the Belarusian Air Force were recorded in the area of the western border of Belarus.
- No flights of fighters of the Russian Aerospace Forces at Baranavichy airfield were recorded.
Rail activity
- On May 6, a military cargo train with equipment of the 4th Separate Tank Battalion of the 19th Mechanized Brigade was being formed at Ashmiany station. On May 7, the train arrived at Zaslonava station. The permanent deployment point of the 19th Mechanized Brigade is located there.
- On May 6, a military cargo train with equipment of the 4th Separate Tank Battalion of the 19th Mechanized Brigade was being formed at Pastavy station. On May 8, the train arrived at Zaslonava station.
Movements by road
- Single vehicles of the Russian Armed Forces were spotted in Mazyr.
- Small convoys (up to 10 pieces), single vehicles and large convoys (10+ vehicles) of the Belarusian Armed Forces were spotted in Minsk, Mazyr, and on some sections of the М7, М5, М9, R14, R45, R52, and other highways. Separately, we can note the movements of convoys of the Belarusian Armed Forces on May 8: 1) M7, Ashmiany -Hudzianiaty (Ashmiany district): 40+ vehicles, including 15 BTR-82A and 20 trucks; 2) R52, Babrouniki (Astraviets district)-Astraviets: at least 8 tractor units carrying T-72B tanks.
Combat training
Combat training activities with units of the Belarusian Armed Forces were conducted at the Obuz-Liasnouski, Barysauski training grounds, and at the Valoushchyna training center of the Internal Troops.
Changes in the size of the Russian Armed Forces group and PMC Wagner in Belarus: no data.
General conclusion on current situation
After almost two months, units of the 19th Mechanized Brigade were withdrawn from Pastavy and Ashmiany districts. In the review of military activity for April 8-14, we wrote that it was possible that units of the Belarusian Armed Forces could be stationed in the area bordering Lithuania on a permanent (rotational) basis. Units of the 19th Brigade were supposed to be replaced by units of the 120th Mechanized Brigade.
This information was confirmed. As noted above, on May 8, two convoys of vehicles of the Belarusian Armed Forces were spotted in Ashmiany and Astraviets districts. The vehicles belong to the 120th Mechanized Brigade.
According to our information, a battalion tactical group of the brigade was redeployed to the area bordering Lithuania. It is based on the 339th Separate Mechanized Battalion (military unit 04104), reinforced by a tank company of the 355th Separate Tank Battalion (military unit 25853), as well as other units (from the anti-aircraft missile and artillery divizion, etc.).
We can expect that units of the 120th Mechanized Brigade will be in the area bordering Lithuania until mid-June-early July. Earlier, the brigade’s units also carried out tasks near the western border of Belarus.