Russian, Serbian servicemen partaking in Slavic Brotherhood 2017 drills in Belarus
BRESTSKY RANGE (Belarus). June 6 (Interfax-AVN) - The active phase of the Slavic Brotherhood 2017 anti-terrorist exercises of the Russian Airborne Forces and the Belarusian and Serbian Special Forces will take place at the Brestsky range on June 12-14, Russian deputy supervisor of the exercises Col. Alexei Sgibnev told reporters on Tuesday after the exercises had kicked off.
"There will be two stages in the exercises. The first one will provide cohesion of the multinational battalion tactical group comprising units of the three participating countries for the accomplishment of anti-terrorist missions; this stage will last for June 6 to June 11. The second (active) stage will feature the accomplishment of anti-terrorist missions by the group on June 12-14," Sgibnev said.
During the active stage, the group will be deployed to the designated area; the servicemen will cross a river and land from Ilyushin Il-76 planes, they will secure the area for the anti-terrorist mission, free a critical piece of infrastructure and hostages taken by the simulated terrorists, destroy the simulated terrorists, and evacuate the injured, he said. "Russian and Serbian servicemen will accomplish every anti-terrorist mission on an unfamiliar terrain," Sgibnev said.
The Belarusian Defense Ministry reported, for its part, that the drills involved over 800 servicemen and more than 100 pieces of hardware.
