Despite the 'Slavic Fraternity' drills being an annual pre-planned event hosted by Belarusian armed forces, the deployment comes at an intensifying moment of continued mass anti-Lukashenko protests after denunciations by the opposition that the Aug.9 national election was "rigged". 

"In accordance with the schedule of international events for 2020, the planned joint Belarusian-Russian tactical exercise Slavic Fraternity, which has been held annually since 2015, will be held from 14 to 25 September at the Brestsky training ground in Belarus", the Russian defense ministry said over the weekend. 

It total Russia is expected to send about 300 troops among its elite Pskov division along with military hardware for the joint drills.

Crucially it comes after Minsk has again charged that "NATO is at the gates" in neighboring Lithuania, where it's been confirmed that American tanks are participating in pre-scheduled exercises there.