The Russian troops that took part in the exercises will remain in Belarus until the middle of the year.

The leaders of Belarus and Russia decided to maintain the presence of Russian troops on the territory of Belarus, despite the official end of military maneuvers. The data on this subject was announced by the Ministry of Defense of Belarus. According to unofficial data, Russian troops will be in Belarus at least until the middle of this year.

According to official data, the reason for the Russian presence on the territory of Belarus is the military activity of Ukraine in the Donbass, although taking into account the fact that there are about 500-600 kilometers from the borders of the self-proclaimed republics to the border with Belarus, this reason raised some doubts.

“Belarus and Russia, due to military activity near the borders and the aggravation in the Donbass, decided to continue a joint check of the response forces. In the course of a further Russian-Belarusian check of the reaction forces, the stages of defense that were not covered with such a degree of detail at the previous stage will be carefully worked out. The verification is designed to ensure an adequate response and de-escalation of military preparations of ill-wishers near our common borders., - reports the Ministry of Defense of Belarus.

Apparently, the decision to maintain the Russian military presence in Belarus was made by Alexander Lukashenko and Vladimir Putin on February 18, however, additional military equipment was transported to Belarus much earlier, which caused a number of questions from experts.

According to some information from Belarusian media resources, the Russian military began renting housing in the southern regions of Belarus for four months at once, which was the reason to assert that the Russian military presence in Belarus will continue until the middle of this year.