Russia and Belarus Large-Scale Joint Exercises... Ukraine's 'Counter-Drill'

[Asia Economy Reporter Changhwan Lee] Ukraine, facing concerns of a Russian invasion, is conducting a large-scale "counter-drill" in response to the joint exercises between Russia and Belarus taking place near its border regions.

According to foreign media on the 7th (local time), Oleksii Reznikov, Ukraine's Minister of Defense, said in an interview with a domestic TV broadcast that "Their (Russia and Belarus) exercises are scheduled," and "We will conduct counter-exercises during the same period."

He introduced that the exercises will be conducted at training grounds in nine regions across the east, west, south, and north. The drills are intended as a response to the Russia-Belarus joint exercises, which will be fully carried out from the 10th to the 20th.

Russia plans to relocate units belonging to the Eastern Military District in its Far East region to Belarus, about 10,000 km away, by the 9th, and then conduct full-scale joint exercises with the Belarusian military starting on the 10th.

Belarus, a former Soviet state with pro-Russian tendencies, borders the northern region of Ukraine, which follows a pro-Western path.

Western analysts have speculated that if Russia invades Ukraine, it could use the Belarus-deployed units to attack Ukraine from the north.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.