Belarus begins navy drills close to its border with Poland and Lithuania as tensions heighten

TALLINN, Estonia — Belarus started navy workouts Monday close to its border with Poland and Lithuania, a transfer coming with tensions already heightened with the 2 NATO members over Russia-linked Wagner mercenaries transferring to Belarus after their short-lived mutiny in Russia.

Both Poland and Lithuania have elevated border safety since 1000’s of Wagner fighters arrived in Russian-allied Belarus beneath a deal that ended their armed riot in late June and allowed them and their chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, to keep away from legal fees.

Leaders of the 2 NATO nations have stated they’re braced for provocations from Moscow and Minsk in a delicate space the place each nations border Belarus in addition to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. They commented early in August after two Belarusian helicopters flew briefly at low altitude into Polish air area. Belarusian authorities denied their helicopters entered Poland.

The Belarusian Defense Ministry stated the drills that started Monday are primarily based on experiences from “the special military operation” – the time period Russia makes use of for its conflict in Ukraine. It stated that features the “use of drones as well as the close interaction of tank and motorized rifle units with units of other branches of the armed forces.”

The conflict video games had been happening within the Grodno area of Belarus, close to the so-called Suwalki Gap – a sparsely populated stretch of land operating 96 kilometers (60 miles) alongside the Polish-Lithuanian border. It hyperlinks the three Baltic states of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia with the remainder of the NATO alliance and separates Belarus from Kaliningrad, a closely militarized Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea that has no land connection to Russia.

Military analysts within the West have lengthy seen the Suwalki Gap as a possible flashpoint space in any confrontation between Russia and NATO. They fear that Russia may attempt to seize the hole and reduce off the three Baltic states from Poland and different NATO nations.

Belarus’ navy has stated it’s actively utilizing Russian mercenaries to coach its troops, and the workouts started as extra Wagner fighters reportedly arrived within the nation. According to Belaruski Hajun, an activist group that tracks troop actions in Belarus, mercenaries arrive in small teams day by day.