Two Russian servicemen crashed during joint exercises in Belarus, writes TASS with reference to the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Ministry of Defense of Russia.
The men served under contract and were highly qualified parachute instructors. On Friday, November 12, units of the Russian Airborne Forces (Airborne Forces) landed on an unfamiliar site in the Grodno region. “The domes of both parachutists went out,” the department noted.
One of the paratroopers tried to save both of them and stop the fall. The contractor released a reserve parachute, however, due to insufficient altitude, the system did not have time to work. A hard landing followed. Both paratroopers received numerous injuries and were hospitalized. Doctors helped them, but the men died. Details of the deaths of servicemen are being established.
The maneuvers were attended by about 250 people, Il-76 aircraft of the Russian military transport aviation, as well as helicopters of the Air Force and Air Defense Forces of Belarus.
Earlier on the same day, the paratroopers of the two countries landed at the Gozhsky training ground in the Grodno region as part of an inspection of the reaction forces of the Union State. They carried out a conditional seizure and hold of the bridgehead, set the task for the military to find and destroy conditional enemy sabotage and reconnaissance groups and illegal armed formations. After the exercises, the soldiers returned to their permanent deployment points.
Joint exercises between Russia and a neighboring state are caused by NATO activity near the borders of Belarus. Poland sent 15 thousand troops, air defense systems, tanks and other heavy weapons to the border with Belarus.
British soldiers also arrived at the Polish-Belarusian border. As noted in the country’s defense ministry, the British engineering troops will cooperate with the Polish army to strengthen the barriers.
In October, Moscow and Minsk agreed to continue to strengthen bilateral cooperation in the defense sphere and planned 139 events to ensure the security of the two countries until 2024.
The most ambitious event will be the Union Shield exercise. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu explained that usually joint exercises are held once every two years: on the territory of Belarus they are called “West”, and “Shield of the Union” – in Russia.
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