"The actions we saw were more defensive in nature," Lieutenant Colonel of the Estonian Defense Forces Kaupo Kiys told BNS on Wednesday.. According to him, the Russian-Belarusian exercises, as well as the maneuvers conducted in Estonia, began with the fact that, first of all, the conditional enemy invaded the country's territory, then his offensive was stopped and he was knocked out of the state.

Various types of troops took part in the exercises - on the first day the air forces were involved, in the second - ground forces, in the third - air defense forces joined in and on the last day of the maneuvers, on Wednesday, the largest operation was held, the course of which was watched by the president Byelorussia Alexander Lukashenko and the attaches of other countries on defense, representatives of NATO, the UN, the Red Cross and the OSCE.

According to Kiisa, there was not noticeably such a large number of servicemen, as previously announced by the Belarusian side, commenting on the number of participants in the maneuvers.

"The number of people that was declared by different parties, we have not seen anywhere. There could be more of them, because Belarus itself is great, but on different days in total I think that 5,000 people have not seen it, "said Kiys. "They could be scattered in other places, we visited four test sites, but did not look at all planes and technical means and we do not know how many people there could be, but in general the total number of people was still less than previously announced," he said. Estonian officer.

Moscow and Minsk declared that 12,700 troops participate in the exercise "West", about 7,200 from Belarus and about 5500 from Russia. Nearly 3,000 people from the Russian soldiers in the exercise in Belarus.

Operated up to 70 aircraft and helicopters, up to 680 units of military equipment. Including - about 250 tanks, up to 200 guns, rocket launchers and mortars, up to 10 warships.

NATO representatives questioned this data as being knowingly understated.

Kees noted that the exercises are conducted in two stages and, in accordance with the Vienna agreements, observers were invited to the second stage of the maneuvers. "I do not know what happened at the first stage, as Russian soldiers were presented to the awards after the completion of the first stage," Kijs said..

According to Kiisa, the development of the attacking part of the exercises could take place at the first stage of maneuvers, but since he did not see it with his own eyes, he can not even say something definite.

"This is all that we were shown, about which we were told. I can definitely speak about this, "added Kees.

The active phase of the exercises lasted from September 14 to September 20.

The Estonian observer acknowledged that the exercise control mechanism remained incomprehensible to him. "When asked who managed the maneuvers, we received evasive answers. It can not be the case that the two countries ruled. If on the one hand the Belarusians and on the other - the Russians, then coordination alone is not enough, someone else should indicate which objects to protect, and when the artillery preparation is over, that the infantry or tanks go on the offensive and fall under their fire. So the management system of the exercises remained unclear to us, "added Kees.

"And one more thing - we could not talk with the emergency services, despite the fact that we repeatedly asked about this opportunity to find out their opinion. But we were able to talk with senior officers of different levels, both from the Russian and the Belarusian side, "said the representative of Estonia.

The Estonian officer took part in the observation mission jointly with his colleagues from Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Ukraine, Sweden and Norway. From each of the countries there were two observers.

"We were there in accordance with the fourth article of the Vienna agreements, according to which it is necessary to invite observers to the exercises if 13,000 or more servicemen participate in them. Some of the articles of the agreements provide an opportunity for the country inviting to teach to show the observers the program that they themselves want to see, "said Kees.

postimees.