MINSK, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Belarusian Defense Ministry said on Thursday Russian forces that took part in the Russian-Belarusian military drills West-2017 started to leave Belarus for their permanent deployment in Russia.
Russian Air Force units of the Western Military District started relocating from Belarus to Russia airfields on Thursday after participating in the exercise.
Weapons, military and special equipment are being loaded onto trains which will leave for Russia, said the Belarusian Defense Ministry.
The ministry said all the Belarusian and Russian army units engaged in the West-2017 exercise will return to their permanent deployment by September 30.
The military drills involves up to 12,700 troops, of which about 3,000 were from the Russian Armed Forces.
The biennially military exercises took place from Sept. 14 to Sept. 20 in both Belarus and Russia.
