Russia sends paratroopers to Belarus for drills near Poland

By VLADIMIR ISACHENKOV
Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia has sent paratroopers to Belarus in a show of support for its ally amid the tensions over an influx of migrants on the Belarus-Poland border. The Russian Defense Ministry said that as part of joint war games about 250 Russian paratroopers parachuted from Il-76 transport planes on Friday into Belarus’ Grodno region. It said the paratroopers flew back to Russia after the exercise. The Belarusian military said the exercise was intended as a rapid-response readiness test. Russia has strongly supported Belarus amid a tense standoff this week as thousands of migrants and refugees gathered on the Belarusian side of the border with Poland in hopes of crossing into the European Union.