Russia, Belarus launch joint air force drills

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia and Belarus have launched joint air force drills in an exercise that underlines close defense ties between the allies amid the fighting in neighboring Ukraine. The Belarusian Defense Ministry said that the maneuvers that began Monday will last until Feb. 1. It said that Russia has deployed its warplanes to Belarus and all of the country’s air bases and firing ranges will be involved in the drills. Last year, Russia and Belarus announced a plan to modernize Belarusian aircraft to make them nuclear-capable and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in December that Belarusian crews were training with Russia to operate those planes modified to carry nuclear weapons.