KRASNODAR, June 16. /TASS/: International military drills make it possible to practice troop interoperability, and deployments to large distances, Deputy Commander of the Belarusian Special Operations Forces Colonel Vladimir Beliy said at the opening of the Slavic Brotherhood-2021 maneuvers of Russia, Belarus, and Serbia on Wednesday.
The active phase of the Slavic Brotherhood-2021 international drills involving almost 1,000 troops from Russia, Belarus, and Serbia kicked off at the Rayevsky practice range near Novorossiysk in Russia’s south on June 16.
"We have sent a battalion here [to Novorossiysk]. Moreover, the deployment was carried out in state stages: first, the military hardware moved forward by railway, and then the personnel arrived by air. The preparations for the exercise help practice regroupings to large distances," the Belarusian officer said.
Deputy Commander of the Russian Airborne Force for Peacekeeping Operations and Collective Operational Response Forces Lieutenant General Andrei Kholzakov said that all the units had undergone training and passed security tests before the drills.
Slavic Brotherhood drills have been held since 2015. Last year, the Slavic Brotherhood Russian-Belarusian maneuvers ran on the Brestsky training ground in Belarus in September.