Russia sends two S-400 battalions to Belarus for drills - Interfax

FILE PHOTO: Belarusian and Russian national flags fly during "Day of multinational Russia" event in central Minsk, Belarus June 8, 2019. REUTERS/Vasily Fedosenko

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia is sending two battalions of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems to Belarus to join military drills there next month, the Interfax news agency said on Friday, at a time of acute tensions with the West over neighbouring Ukraine.

Russian military forces and hardware began arriving in Belarus this week for the "Allied Resolve" drills https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/belarus-says-joint-drills-with-russia-run-feb-10-20-2022-01-18 to be held near the former Soviet republic's western border with NATO members Poland and Lithuania, and close to its southern flank with Ukraine.