Belarus-Russia hold joint military exercise on Polish border

A subdivision of the Russian Airborne Forces worked out a practical landing in Belarus, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday, as the border row between Poland and Belarus continues to exacerbate. In a statement, the ministry announced that all exercises were completed and conducted by troops returning to their positions of deployment. Russian soldiers were also joined by their Belarusian counterparts for joint drills on Polish and Lithuanian borders.

Joint drills were conducted on Gozhsky training ground and involved airborne troops landing on the ground and carrying out combat training, CNN reported citing the Belarusian defence ministry. For the exercise, military transport planes and helicopters of the Belarusian Air Force were used. Later, the ministry said that the joint exercise was held "in connection with the buildup of military activity near the state border of the Republic of Belarus. A total of 250 people were involved in the drills. In the aftermath of the drills, Russian state-controlled News Agency Tass reported that two Russian paratroopers dried during the drills after their parachutes failed to open in the wild.

What is happening on Polish-Belarusian Border?

Hundreds of asylum seekers, especially from conflict-ridden Arab states, have been trying to enter the European Union through Poland. As per the Polish border Agency, more than 16,000 attempts have been made to illegally cross the border since August. But, with wildlands and freezing temperatures, scores of migrants die. Earlier on October 15, BBC reported that at least six migrants were found dead near the border with temperatures falling below freezing overnight.

O Wednesday, the EU accused Belarus of sponsoring "trafficking" of human lives with false promises. A spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Steffen Seibert stated that Minsk is engaged in "state-run smuggling and trafficking...100% at the expense of the people who are lured into the country with false promises," the Associated Press reported. 

Representative Image: AP