Estonian Ministry of Defense: Russia is ready for military intervention in Belarus
Russia is ready for military intervention in Belarus, just as it did in Ukraine, if the political situation changes in an undesirable direction for the Kremlin, stated the head of the Estonian Defense Forces, Lieutenant General Riho Terras in an interview with ERR.
"Like Ukraine, Russia is planning military steps against Belarus if the political situation changes there. Russian military and security structures are preparing to intervene and conduct a military operation in Belarus if necessary. The planning for the operation began in 2014," said Terras.
According to the Lieutenant General, the task of Zapad [military exercises] and other joint military exercises is to link the Belarusian armed forces to the Russian as much as possible, and the goal is to paralyze the ability of the Belarusian military to act independently.
"It is noteworthy that the Russian president visited the exercise phase in Russia, although he stressed that the main difficulty in joint exercises is in Belarus. Various military districts, the Baltic and Northern fleets, and missile forces all take part in the exercise. If this is an antiterrorist operation, then this is an obvious exaggeration,” said Terras.
The active phase of the Russian-Belarusian Zapad-2017 exercises was held from September 14 to September 20. According to official data, about 13,000 servicemen took part in them as well as up to 70 helicopters and airplanes, about 250 tanks and up to 10 warships.
However, the chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel, said that 70 to 100 thousand military personnel were involved in the exercises.