The first echelon of Russian troops to participate in the "West-2009" exercise will arrive in Belarus today

September 9, Minsk / Vladimir Matveev - BELTA /. The first railway echelon with Russian troops to participate in the operational-strategic exercise "West-2009" will arrive today in the Vitebsk region. This was reported to a BELTA correspondent by the head of the press service of the Ministry of Defense of Belarus, Vyacheslav Remenchik. "The arrival of the first echelon with Russian troops is expected late tonight," the interlocutor specified. As reported, on September 8, the Russian part of the regional group of troops (forces) of Belarus and Russia began to perform tasks of the operational-strategic exercise "West-2009" on the territory of Russia. The exercise will begin in Belarus on September 18. The exercise is conducted on the topic "Preparation and application of the regional group of troops (forces) of Belarus and Russia to ensure the military security of the Union State." The goals of the exercise are to check the capabilities of the two states to ensure the military security of the Union State, to improve the coordination of military command bodies, field and air training of formations and military units that are part of the RGT (c). More than 12.5 thousand personnel, more than 200 combat tanks, 470 combat armored vehicles, more than 100 aircraft, more than 200 self-propelled and towed artillery pieces, mortars and multiple launch rocket systems will take part in the exercise. The "West-2009" exercise will last until September 29. -0-