Two Russian paratroopers killed in drills near Belarus-Poland border, amid migrant crisis
- The soldiers’ parachutes collided and deflated after they jumped from a transport plane during joint war games, Moscow said
- About 250 Russian paratroopers had been taking part in the exercise held in response to an ‘increase of military activities near the Belarusian border’
Russia sent paratroopers to Belarus on Friday, in a show of support for its ally amid tensions over migrants and refugees amassing on the Belarus-Poland border, but two of the Russian soldiers were killed in a parachute accident.
The Russian defence ministry said that as part of joint war games, about 250 Russian paratroopers jumped from heavy lift Il-76 transport planes into the Grodno region of Belarus, which borders Poland.
The ministry said in a statement later that the two paratroopers’ parachutes collided in a gust of wind and deflated. It noted that one of the soldiers tried to use a reserve chute but the altitude was too low for it to deploy. Both died of their injuries in a hospital.
The ministry said that the paratroopers who took part in the drills reboarded the transport planes and flew back to Russia after the exercise.
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The Belarusian military said the exercise involving a battalion of Russian paratroopers was intended to test the readiness of the allies’ rapid response forces due to an “increase of military activities near the Belarusian border”.
It said the drills that involved Belarusian air defence assets, helicopter gunships and other forces envisaged targeting enemy scouts and illegal armed formations, along with other tasks.