Military aircraft will be massively employed in the Russia-Belarus joint strategic exercise Zapad-2021 (West-2021) scheduled for September, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at the ministry’s conference call on Tuesday.

"In the course of special logistic support drills and the joint Russian-Belarusian strategic exercise Zapad-2021, aviation is planned to be heavily employed and a complex aerial situation will be created," the defense chief said.

In this regard, the entire aviation personnel must be "fully prepared to operate in this environment," Shoigu stressed.

"In addition, it is necessary to ensure that the airfields, helipads and aircraft involved in the drills strictly comply with the established flight safety requirements," the defense chief said.