NATO warns Russian buildup in Belarus biggest in 30 years since Cold War

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday said that Russia has deployed more troops and military equipment to Belarus and that the military troop concentration is bigger than ever witnessed in the last 30 years. “Over the last days, we have seen a significant movement of Russian military forces into Belarus. This is the biggest Russian deployment there since the Cold War,” NATO chief Stoltenberg told reporters during a press briefing at Nato headquarters in Brussels on February 3, according to Associated Press.

Russian troop deployment in Belarus will see 30,000 soldiers, along with the Russian special forces, Moscow’s advanced fighter jets, Iskander short-range ballistic missiles and S-400 ground-to-air missile defense systems, NATO chief warned, expressing concern about the Russian military invasion into the Ukraine as Russia has separately concentrated more than 125,000 troops on the frontier with Ukraine. 

“So we speak about a wide range of modern military capabilities. All this will be combined with Russia’s annual nuclear forces exercise, expected to take place this month,” Stoltenberg said during the press briefing. 

Allied Resolve 2022 Exercise

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka had agreed to hold "Allied Resolve 2022 Exercise” in February in accordance with Minsk’s proposal, which would send a strong message of deterrence to NATO. At least 200,000 Russian troops participated in the week-long Zapad-2021 military exercise in Belarus, western Russia and the Baltic Sea in one of the largest joint military exercises held between the two nations yet. 

Footages released by the Russian defence forces showed warships 290 tanks, 15 vessels, artillery, 80 military fighter jets conducting drills with Belarusian forces. This year, the joint war games are scheduled from February 10 to February 20, and Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu was reportedly spotted in Minsk checking on the preparations. The exercise comes at a time of high tensions between Russia and Kyiv. It raises concerns among the NATO alliance countries as recently Belarus’ defence ministry also accused Ukraine of violating its airspace with a drone. 

When Russia had announced the joint military exercise with Belarus in December the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), an open-source investigative outlet, had cited the credible estimates that some 8,000 to 15,000 troops would participate. “Many soldiers and their relatives are writing in social media that they’re being sent to Belarus for training,” Kirill Mikhailov, a CIT analyst, had said in the CIT report, adding that it was “a serious sign.” Amateur sleuths and open-source investigators also shared footage of Russia mobilizing the troops westward to Belarus, as NATO chief rang alarm that Moscow was deploying a “wide range of modern military capabilities” and will conjointly hold annual nuclear forces exercise. 

Satellite imagery by Maxar and an accompanying analysis note stated that Moscow’s deployment "reflect an increased level of activity and combat readiness.” The imagery also analysed Russian military training grounds expansion and set up of garrisons some 150 miles of the Ukrainian border. Satellite imagery shows troop tents or shelters for Russian soldiers seen at virtually every deployment location in Belarus, Crimea and western Russia, which suggests “the units are now accompanied with troops and have increased their overall readiness level.” Footages depicted S-400 missile system “Triumph” division, Vans 90Yu6, 40V6 universal mobile towers and loader-transport vehicles based on the four-axle Urals arriving in Kurasoushchyna, Minsk. 

Russia's heavy troop concentration in Belarus comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy hosted his Turkish counterpart President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for talks in the Ukrainian capital as the latter offered to intervene to defuse escalating tensions. Russian President Vladimir Putin also agreed to hold a meeting with Argentine counterpart, Alberto Fernandez, in Moscow. Earlier this week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johsnon made an urgent visit to Kyiv and pledged full support against any act of Russian military aggression, as he threatened crippling economic sanctions.