‘Russians Drowned Tank In Pond A Few Days Ago’

What the Kantemirov tank division is doing in Belarus after the West-2017 exercises are officially over.

The loading of armoured vehicles of the 1st Guards Tank Army’s Kantemir Division, which participated in the West-2017 exercises, began at Veraitsy railway station (Asipovichy district, Mahiliou region), Belsat reports.

The loading, which started in the morning on September 20, was taking place in the eyes of the locals in close proximity to the railway station. The military vehicles could also be clearly seen from the windows of trains that go between Asipovichy and Minsk.

“All enemies are defeated — and we are leaving,” — joked a Russian captain whom the journalists met in a shop near the station.

A Belarusian patrol told the reporters that the units that had performed their combat mission began loading before the official closing of the maneuvers. But part of the Russian military is still at the exercise area.

On September 20, the soldiers with insignia of the Yampolsky motorized infantry regiment were seen at the railway station.

“We lived here in tents near the training ground. There were many of us. And now we coming back… The exercise went off without a hitch,” — said Andrei, a private of the Yampolsky regiment.

Belsat’s interlocutor is a contractor, he has served for 1,5 years. He was born in Ukraine’s Dnepropetrovsk (now — Dnipro), but lives in Russia. Andrei has no doubt that Russia is the most powerful country in the world.

“If we wanted to invade you, we would have done it and you would not have even understoood what had happened. You would just wonder that you became Russians. As we did with Crimea … Russia is a great power. Nobody will ecer defeat it,” — he stressed.

At the same time, the taxi driver who took the journalists to Veraitsy, recalled:

“A few days ago, the Russians drowned a tank in a pond — mushroom pickers were taking pictures of it and laughing a lot. They were having range pratice outside the training ground; everyone could see them shooting not far from the road,” — the man told the journalists.

Important to note, September 20 is the final day of the joint military maneuvres West-2017. According to the information of the Ministry of Defense, now the Russian troops must leave the territory of Belarus within ten days, while the Belarusian troops should return to the place of their permanent dislocation.

This year, the West-2017 military exercise grabbed the international community’s attention.

At briefings, the Belarusian Ministry of Defense repeatedly stressed the transparency of the war game. However, important details were not reported. For example, the official West-2017 website failed to reveal information which units of the 1st Tank Army participated in the maneuvers. They did not specify on which airfield Russian aircraft landed.