FEB 19 - they'd been there for about a month when this article was written.
'They Drink A Lot, Sell Their Fuel': Belarusians Give Low Marks To Russian Troops Deployed For Drills
https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-troops-belarus-exercises-ukraine/31711282.html
"The soldiers have settled in the surrounding forests," the local, who asked not to be identified, added. "They drink a lot and sell a lot of their diesel fuel. They are living in tents."
The first Russian troops began arriving in Belarus for the unexpected Union Determination-2022 exercises on January 18. The maneuvers, a 10-day exercise set to end on February 20 and involving an estimated 30,000 Russian troops and almost the entire Belarusian military, come at a time when Russia has massed military assets around Ukraine and in the occupied Ukrainian region of Crimea, sparking fears of a new invasion. [snip]
"Military equipment is frequently dropped from the platforms during unloading," the channel wrote. "After unloading, a lot of abandoned equipment -- body armor, helmets, personal gear -- remained." [snip]
"Over a stretch of 3 kilometers there were 100-liter trash bags every 20 meters, as well vodka bottles, empty plastic beer kegs, and empty cookie packages," the Telegram channel reported. An anonymous commenter responded acerbically that the state railway would just arrange an "emergency" Saturday working day and "the railway workers will clean up everything after our 'brothers.'"
The troops thought they were going for a ten day exercise. They were there for weeks, and then... oops.
= new reply since forum marked as read
