Russia and Belarus have wrapped up their large-scale Zapad-2025
military exercises, drawing intense scrutiny from NATO countries. On
September 16, Russian President Vladimir Putin personally visited the
closing phase of the drills at the Mulino training ground in Russia’s Nizhny
Novgorod region. Wearing military uniform, he reviewed troops and inspected
more than 400 pieces of military hardware, including radar systems, anti-drone
weapons, motorcycles, quad bikes, and other technology — some already deployed
on the battlefield in Ukraine.
According to Russian officials, the exercises ran from
September 12 to 16 across 41 training sites in Russia and Belarus and involved
about 100,000 service members, 10,000 weapons systems, and 247 naval vessels.
Putin said the maneuvers were shaped by lessons learned from the war in Ukraine
and stressed they were designed to strengthen the defense of the Russia-Belarus
“Union State” against any form of aggression.
The drills have triggered alarm in NATO’s eastern flank.
Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia all voiced concern over possible provocations,
and Warsaw closed its border crossings with Belarus as a precaution. Western
observers note that while Moscow describes Zapad-2025 as defensive, previous
iterations of the exercise have coincided with or preceded aggressive moves in
the region.
Belarus confirmed that military observers from the United
States, Turkey, and Hungary were present at one of the training grounds near
Barysaw, about 74 kilometers northeast of Minsk. Officially staged every four
years, Zapad drills are a key barometer of Russian and Belarusian military
readiness and a showcase of new weapons systems — making this year’s event
especially significant amid heightened tensions with NATO.
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