Allied Resolve 2022

On 17 Januaury 2022 Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko announced a military exercise with Russia along Belarus’ southern and western borders. The exercise was named “Allied Resolve” and would be held to practise a specific action plan against the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine. The new large Russian military presence along Ukraine’s border with Belarus effectively encircled Ukraine.

Retired four-star Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, Nato’s supreme allied commander when Putin annexed Crimea in 2014, told the Washington Examiner that putting Russian troops in Belarus would “be like [if] the Russians parked in central Virginia, facing Washington.” He continued, saying that “the bottom line is, you want to bring great pressure on Zelenskiy, put an invading force a couple of hours away from [the Ukrainian] capital with no military between you and it.”

Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation Alexander Fomin said 18 January 2022 that various options for joint actions to neutralize threats and stabilize the situation at the borders will be worked out during the inspection of the reaction forces of the Union State.

“A situation may arise when the forces and means of the regional grouping will not be enough to guarantee the security of the Union State, and we must be ready to strengthen it. Together with the Belarusian side, an understanding was reached that it will be necessary to involve the entire potential of the state’s military organization for common defense ", Fomin said at a briefing for foreign military attachés on Tuesday.

According to him, in this regard, the Russian Federation "involves part of the control bodies and units of the Eastern Military District (VVO), which participate in a surprise inspection conducted in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in January of this year," from the Russian Federation to the upcoming inspection activities on the territory of Belarus.

Fomin recalled that the Ministry of Defense had previously reported on the activities that are now taking place in the Eastern Military District. Various options for joint actions to neutralize threats and stabilize the situation on the borders of Russia and Belarus will be worked out during the test of the response forces of the Union State, Fomin said.

"The presidents of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus agreed to hold this event back in December last year. The presidents decided to conduct an unscheduled check of the troops and assess their readiness to ensure military security, as well as work out various options for joint actions to neutralize threats and stabilize the situation on the borders of the Union State " Fomin said.

He also noted that various options for the use of regional grouping are being worked out regularly. "Last year, they conducted the Zapad-2021 exercises, where its high combat readiness was confirmed," Fomin said. An assessment of the ability of the Armed Forces of Russia and Belarus to ensure the coalition security of the two countries will be the main result of the test of the reaction forces of the Union State, which will be held in February, the deputy minister said.

"The main result of the ongoing activities will be an assessment of the ability of military command and control bodies and troops (forces) to fulfill the tasks of ensuring the military security of the Union State," Fomin said. He also noted that "all the information voiced during the briefing was presented by the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in the framework of voluntary transparency."

The test of the reaction forces of the Union State will be held in two stages and will end on February 20, during which a joint exercise "Allied Resolve - 2022" will be held to practice defense in the event of external aggression, the deputy minister said.

"At the second stage of the verification, from February 10 to 20, a joint exercise" Allied Resolve - 2022 "will be held. The purpose of the exercise will be to work out the tasks of suppressing and repelling external aggression in the course of a defensive operation, countering terrorism and protecting the interests of the Union State," Fomin said at a briefing for foreign military attachés.

According to him, "in the course of the exercise, measures will be taken to strengthen the protection of the state border to prevent the penetration of armed groups of militants, to block the channels for the delivery of weapons and ammunition, as well as to search, block, and destroy illegal armed formations and sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the enemy."

"The practical actions of the troops (forces) will take place at the Domanovsky, Gozhsky, Obuz-Lesnovsky, Brest and Osipovichsky training grounds, as well as certain areas of the terrain located on the territory of the Republic of Belarus. It is planned to use the airfields of Baranovichi, Luninets, Lida and Machulishchi," said the Deputy Minister of Defense of the Russian Federation. He emphasized that the number of participants in the exercise, as well as the number of main weapons systems, do not exceed the parameters defined by the Vienna Document 2011, which are subject to notification.

Two divisions of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems and 12 Su-35 fighters will be sent to the territory of Belarus from Russia as part of an inspection of the reaction forces of the Union State, the Deputy Minister of Defense said. "<...> As part of checking the functioning of the unified air defense system of the Union State, 12 Su-35s will be relocated to Belarusian territory, two divisions of the S-400 anti-aircraft missile system, as well as the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and gun battalion, will be redeployed, - Fomin said.

He noted that the transfer of weapons will take place at the first of two stages of testing the response forces of the Union State. This phase will last until February 9th. During it, it is planned to redeploy and create in a short time groupings of troops in threatened directions, organize the protection and defense of important state and military facilities, protect the state border of the Union State in the airspace, including within the framework of the Unified Regional Air Defense System of Belarus and Russia. According to Fomin, "the readiness and ability of the forces and means on duty for air defense, including the joint air defense training and combat center, will be checked to carry out tasks to cover important objects on the territory of Belarus."

"In addition," he continued, "at this stage, the units and military units of the Eastern Military District and the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus involved in the inspection will be held control exercises in fire training and other training subjects. As part of combat coordination, we will conduct tactical exercises on various training grounds with the development of issues of defense and the fight against illegal armed groups.

The briefing was attended by 98 representatives of the military-diplomatic corps accredited in Russia, including those from 16 NATO countries.