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Two Russian paratroopers die in Belarus drills
Summary
A look back at a training accident near the Polish border, set against a tense week on the Belarus–Poland frontier.
What happened in western Belarus on 12 November 2021? Two Russian paratroopers were killed during military drills near the Polish border, according to the Ministry of Defence.
The ministry said the parachutes of the two men had failed to deploy properly during their jumps. It attributed the failure to a sudden strong gust of wind.
The deaths came days after a separate incident on the same frontier. On 8 November 2021, a large crowd of migrants escorted by the Belarusian military tried to break through the Belarus–Poland border near Bruzgi, in the Grodno Region. The episode was part of the 2021 Belarus–European Union border crisis.
Several migrants were reported dead after that attempt. Seven were found on the Polish side of the border, and a few more deaths were reported in Belarus.
The two events were separate: one a military training accident, the other a migrant crossing attempt. Both took place near the Polish border within the same week.
